House of the Brave: Friend Like You
by islandgirl394
Summary: Victoire would never have guessed her third year would turn out like this. Join her in her emotional journey through first crushes, first kisses, and first heartbreaks. Part of a larger series.
1. September

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 **Hope you enjoy and please review :)**

 **Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using characters and places from the Harry Potter world, which is trademarked by JK Rowling. However, all plots are my own and are in no way endorsed by JK Rowling or anyone affiliated with the Harry Potter universe.**

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Chapter 1: September 2013

"Come _on_ Domi, at this rate the train's just going to pick up and leave without us," Victoire whined as her sister gave their mother yet another hug goodbye.

"No it's not," Dominique said. "It'll at least blow the whistle to warn us before it starts moving."

"It already did that. _Twice_ ," Victoire stressed the word twice.

"Yeah, but it's not until the third whistle that we really have to worry," Dominique said.

"Okay, well I'm getting on the train," Victoire decided. "By _maman, papa, Louis,_ I'll see you at Christmas." Victoire waved and climbed aboard the train.

As much as she loved her sister, Victoire was getting extremely fed up with her. All summer it had been 'Victoire, when we're at Hogwarts together…' and 'Next year at Hogwarts, it's going to be so much fun…' Victoire was done. She needed a break. She'd promised her parents Dominique could sit with her and her friends on the way to school, but now she was regretting that decision. All she wanted was a nice train ride with her friends where they could talk about their summers and play some truth or dare.

Victoire glanced out at the platform one more time to find that Dominique had caved and begun yet another round of hugs. She decided that Dominique was old enough to find Victoire and her friends on her own, and so she grabbed her trunk and began to roll down the hall.

As usual, Kara and Brianna were already seated and waiting for her. As soon as she arrived, she shoved her trunk under the seat, not in the mood to find her wand to levitate it, and lied down on the seat opposite her two friends, stretching out so that she took up the whole space.

"I'm exhausted," Victoire groaned. "All morning, Dominique's been unable to keep still. She was jumping up and down in the back of the car all the way to King's Cross and now she can't stop hugging _maman_!"

"I'm sure it's not _that_ bad," Kara said.

"Oh it is," Victoire assured her. "This morning, she tried to borrow my sweater. She said that since we're going to be in school together, we should be able to borrow each other's clothes. And for someone who hasn't been sorted yet, she seems pretty confident she's going to be in Gryffindor."

"You think she'll end up in a different house?" Brianna asked.

"Oh no, she'll be in Gryffindor. Almost all the Weasleys end up in Gryffindor," Victoire said. "But she's a first year, she should be panicking about what house she's going to end up in, not planning sleepovers in the third years' dorm."

"Wait what?" Brianna asked.

"Don't worry, that's _so_ not going to happen," Victoire assured her. "She's going to stay right where she belongs with the other first years."

Just then, the train started moving and Victoire shot up in her seat. "We're moving!" she cried.

"Yes, congratulations on your amazing powers of observation," Brianna replied sarcastically.

"Did Dominique get on the train?" Victoire asked in a panic, looking out the window and scanning the crowd for her family. "I don't see them on the platform…"

"I'm sure she made it on just fine," Kara assured her.

"Look who's really all sweet and protective now," Brianna mocked, referring to the previous year when she'd been in Victoire's shoes with her sister Savannah.

"Oh shut it," Victoire rolled her eyes, laying back down. "Either she got on or she didn't. If she didn't, then it's too late now. She'll just have to find some other way to get to Hogwarts."

"Oh, but she can't miss the train ride!" Kara cried. "It's part of the experience!"

"I think she'll live," Victoire replied. "Teddy didn't take the train in his first year. He was already at the castle a few days early because his grandmother – Professor Tonks – had decided to take the teaching position. He only rides it now because his friends are on it and he likes to hang with them, but it's not like you die if you don't ride the train."

"Yeah, but it's better if you do," Brianna said. "How else are you supposed to make friends?"

"Well considering I spent my first train ride in Teddy's compartment and still managed to make friends with you guys, I'm going to say it's not that key," Victoire said.

Suddenly, the compartment door slid open and a nervous-looking Dominique appeared, standing in the hall with her trunk.

"Victoire, I thought you were going to wait for me at the door," Dominique said accusingly. " _Maman_ made you promise you'd make sure I was alright."

"Dominique, you're eleven," Victoire said. "If you can't find a compartment on a train by yourself, then you shouldn't be going to Hogwarts."

" _Maman_ said I could sit with you," Dominique added.

"So sit," Victoire gestured to the only half-full compartment. "There's plenty of room."

Dominique awkwardly clambered in, pulling her trunk behind her, just barely managing to shut the door. She tried to lift the trunk into the luggage rack, but ended up just leaving it in the middle of the room and plopping herself down on Victoire's legs.

"Ow!" Victoire cried, jumping up. "What'd you do that for?"

"You were taking up all the room," Dominique said. "If you can't keep your feet on your side, then I'm going to sit on them."

"Oh my God, we are not doing this!" Victoire cried, tucking her feet under her bum. "Dominique you are way too old to pull all that 'you're on my side' stuff. If you're not going to act like a little kid, then you can go and sit with the other little kids."

"Maybe I will," Dominique said defiantly, standing up. "You're just being mean. I don't think I like you very much at Hogwarts."

"We're not even at Hogwarts yet," Victoire retorted. "At least think before you say things."

"I'm leaving," Dominique declared, opening the door again and dragging her trunk back into the hall. "Enjoy your boring train ride without me."

She slammed the door shut, leaving Kara and Brianna looking stunned.

"Maybe I don't want siblings after all," Kara muttered. "Not if it would always be like that."

"It's not always like that," Victoire muttered, stretching her legs back out. "It's just been a really long morning."

"Do you think one of us should go after her? Make sure she's alright?" Kara asked.

"She'll be fine," Brianna said, waving her hand. "We all did fine on our own in first year. She'll figure something out. Or else she'll be back in about twenty minutes."

Victoire laughed. "So what did you guys do on your first day?" she wondered, realizing that she'd never heard these stories.

"Oh, it was awful," Kara muttered. "First I found this one compartment that was totally empty, so I sat down. But then these Slytherin boys came and made me leave, saying that it was their compartment and that they always sat in the same one and that I needed to find the other Flobs and sit with them. Then I ended up sitting with Sara Pucey and Hillary Davis, and they spent the whole time talking about how they were going to be sorted into Slytherin. When they asked me where I wanted to be sorted, I lied and said Slytherin too, because I knew they'd make fun of me if I said Gryffindor. Not very brave, I know."

"My train ride wasn't so bad," Brianna said. "I sat with a whole bunch of other first years… Barbara Mitchell, Mia Harper, Stanley Towler, Johnathan Cadwallader… I think there was one other guy… oh yeah! Frederick Edgecombe! Anyway, I don't remember what we talked about, but it was alright. I could tell none of them was going to be my best friend or anything, but they were okay to spend the day with."

"Victoire, you said you sat with Teddy?" Kara asked.

"Yeah," Victoire said. "He found me being bullied by some older student and then said I could sit with him and Billy. It was a pretty fun afternoon actually."

"I'm jealous!" Kara said. "I wish I'd known someone on my first day. It was really scary, knowing that I was totally alone."

Victoire was silent for a minute. Was she being a horrible sister? Should she go out and find Dominique and apologize and tell her to come back?

She was about to say she was going to find her sister, but just then, the trolley lady came by, dragging the candy trolley behind her while pushing the healthy food trolley that Brianna had come up with ahead of her.

"Anything off the trolley dears?" the lady asked.

"Oh, I'll have a sandwich," Brianna said, reaching for her trunk to grab some money. "Tuna please."

"I'll have a cauldron cake and a licorice wand," Kara requested.

"Kara!" Brianna cried. "You're not going to buy something healthy off my new healthy foods cart?"

"Sorry," Kara shrugged. "I like being able to eat sweets on the train. It's part of the fun of the trip."

Brianna shook her head. "Vic, you at least have to buy something healthy."

"Alright, I'll have a ham and cheese sandwich and a chocolate frog," she decided.

"Vic!" Brianna cried.

"Hey, I'm still eating the sandwich," Victoire said. "I just so rarely have the opportunity to eat chocolate that I had to take advantage."

"Ugh," Brianna sighed. "Is anyone buying from the healthy trolley?" she demanded.

"I'm sorry dear," the trolley lady replied. "But given the choice, teenagers would much rather suck on a sugar quill than eat a sandwich or pick at a salad."

"This is terrible!" Brianna cried. "All my hard work gone to ruin!"

"It's not so bad," Kara assured her. "I'm sure the problem is just that people don't know about the healthy foods yet. Once they realize they have the option, I'm sure some of them will go for it."

Brianna glared at her pointedly.

"Okay, so not everyone," Kara admitted. "But definitely some."

"You're right," Brianna said. "We just need some more advertising. I'll write the Headmistress about it right now."

VvVvVvVvVvV

Soon it was dark and the train was pulling into Hogsmeade station.

"I never went to check on Dominique!" Victoire cried. "I hope she's alright!"

"She's fine," Kara assured her.

"Yeah," Brianna agreed. "Look, there she is with some boy!" she pointed down the platform in the direction the first years were assembling and indeed there Dominique was chatting animatedly with one of her soon-to-be classmates.

"I don't like him," Victoire muttered. "She doesn't need to be making friends with boys. She's way too young."

"Calm down," Brianna muttered. "It's not like they're getting married, they just met."

"She should be talking to the girls," Victoire said. "She should be looking for potential roommates and start getting on their good side now. Imagine where we'd be if one of us had befriended Raina or Caitlin on the train."

"Yeah…" Brianna muttered. "That wouldn't have happened and you know it."

"Come on, let's just get up to the castle before we miss the sorting," Victoire rolled her eyes, dragging her friends toward the carriages.

VvVvVvVvVvV

The first years entered the Great Hall and Victoire craned her neck to try and spot Dominique in the crowd. She was near the back, still walking with the same boy from before.

"He'd better not be sorted into Gryffindor with Domi," Victoire muttered under her breath as the first years gathered at the front and the sorting hat began to sing its song.

While the hat finished and Professor Longbottom started reading off the student's names, Victoire started fiddling with her fingers, trying to peel off the last of the nail polish on her fingers. It had chipped a great deal on the train, and she knew she was going to be putting on fresh polish tonight before bed anyway.

"Hey, Victoire," Kara nudged her. "It's Dominique's new friend."

Victoire looked up and indeed, the boy who Dominique had been chatting with earlier was walking up to the stool. Victoire leaned forward a little while the hat was lowered onto his head. When it announced him as a Gryffindor, Victoire sighed. "They're going to be best friends, aren't they?" she groaned.

By the time Dominique's turn finally came around, there was only one other student left waiting his turn. Victoire tried to catch her sister's eye before the hat fell over her face, but Dominique was looking somewhere else. The sorting hat didn't deliberate for long before it declared Dominique a Gryffindor and she gleefully jumped up and joined the rest of her new classmates at the front of the table.

"I can't believe it!" Victoire cried.

"What, you said she was definitely going to be in Gryffindor," Kara reminded her.

"I know," Victoire agreed. "What I can't believe is that she still hasn't looked over here. I mean, look at her, with all her new friends. I'm her sister. We've spent the last eleven years together, and suddenly I'm just some boring old third year that doesn't even deserve a smile?"

"Don't be jealous," Brianna teased her.

"I am _not_ jealous," Victoire muttered as the final first year was sorted into Slytherin. "Nope, definitely _not_ jealous."

VvVvVvVvVvV

"Hey Vic," Teddy greeted Victoire after the feast was over. "So Dominique's in Gryffindor too, how exciting is that?"

"So exciting," Victoire muttered, not feeling the excitement. She'd kept trying to catch her sister's attention all through dinner, but every time, Dominique had been in deep conversation with the other first years and hadn't noticed a thing.

"Why so bitter?" Teddy asked.

"No reason," Victoire muttered. "Have you seen a prefect? I don't know the password yet."

"Actually, I have," Teddy said smugly.

"Where?" Victoire asked.

"Where indeed?" Teddy repeated, only annoying Victoire further.

"Either tell me where the prefect is or let me go find one," Victoire insisted.

"Or I could just give you the password myself," Teddy said.

"So you've already talked with a prefect?" Victoire asked.

"In a manner of speaking," Teddy smirked.

"Okay seriously Teddy, what's going on with you?" Victoire demanded. "You're acting really weird."

"I can't believe you didn't notice it," Teddy sighed, pointing to a badge on his chest that hadn't been there the last time Victoire had seen him in his robes. "I'm a prefect!"

"Oh my gosh, seriously?" Victoire cried. "Congratulations!"

"Thanks," Teddy smiled. "I didn't want to mention it before, because I wanted to see the look on your face when you saw the badge, but then you didn't even notice it."

"I'm sorry," Victoire apologized. "I'm just so distracted with all this stuff going on with Dominique."

"What stuff with Dominique?" Teddy asked, concerned.

"It's nothing," Victoire muttered. "So do you need to escort the first years, or are you free to walk with me?"

"Sorry," Teddy apologized. "I'm supposed to take the first years. They make the fifth year prefects do it, supposedly because we're the closest in age, but I think the older prefects just don't want to."

"Okay, well I'll see you around," Victoire said.

"See you around," Teddy waved, walking away. "Oh, and password's _flobberworm_."

"Thanks!" Victoire called back as Teddy met up with his co-prefect, Beverly Longman, and began calling the first years to follow him.

When Victoire arrived in the common room, Dominique and the first years were already gone.

"I can't believe this!" Victoire cried. "It's like I don't even exist anymore!"

"Come on Vic," Brianna said, leading her friend up the stairs to the dorms. "Let her settle in and be with her friends. You can yell at her for ignoring you tomorrow."

"Fine," Victoire sighed, stomping up the stairs and entering the dorm, where Caitlin was already plastering her wall with her Quidditch posters and Ricky was curled up in a ball on Raina's bed while she unpacked her trunk.

"Hey, Victoire, I just met your sister!" Caitlin said, jumping down from her bed. "She seems pretty cool."

"You met Dominique?" Victoire asked.

"Yeah, she was just in here asking if you were back yet. I told her you were still down at the feast," Caitlin replied.

"But I'm here now!" Victoire cried.

"Well don't tell me," Caitlin muttered. "I just told her what I knew."

"Oh no, what if she's miserable?" Victoire cried. "What if she hasn't made any friends and she was looking for someone to talk to and I wasn't there and now she's just sitting in her dorm crying her little eyes out?"

"She seemed fine," Caitlin shrugged. "But you'll probably find her in her dorm. First years are two floors up this year."

Victoire hurried up the two flights of stairs and burst into the first year dorm, only to find that Dominique was nowhere in sight.

"Do any of you know where my sister is?" Victoire asked.

"You're Dominique's sister?" the girl with the super long brown hair asked.

"Yeah," Victoire confirmed.

"She just went down to the common room to wait for you," the girl replied.

"Thanks," Victoire said, turning around and hurrying back down all the stairs to the common room.

"Yeah, yeah," she heard Dominique's voice carrying as she made her way down. "I'll leave in a minute; I'm just waiting for my sister."

"Dominique!" Victoire cried, rounding the last turn in the stairs and emerging into the common room to find Dominique arguing with some seventh year.

"You're the sister?" the seventh year asked.

"Yeah," Victoire said. "Why, what's wrong?"

"I told her the party is for upperclassmen only, but she insisted on waiting for you," the student said.

"Okay seriously?" Victoire demanded. "Not everyone's even back from the feast yet. Have you ever thought about, oh I don't know, giving us all like, twenty minutes before you start kicking us out?"

The student shrugged and walked away. "Just clear out before you overstay your welcome down here," she muttered.

"Victoire!" Dominique cried. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"Yeah, I heard," Victoire said. "Listen, I'm sorry about earlier, on the train…"

"Oh whatever," Dominique muttered. "I was being annoying and you just wanted to hang out with your friends."

"So you're not mad at me?" Victoire asked.

"I was," Dominique admitted. "But I'm not anymore."

"Well that's a relief," Victoire smiled, giving her sister a hug.

"Aww," Teddy's voice cooed as he came up next to them. "Sisterly love. What a sweet picture."

"Hey Teddy!" Dominique greeted him.

"So I guess you're pretty excited, huh?" Victoire asked. "Now that you're an upperclassman and all, you get to stay at the party tonight."

"Actually, I got stuck with patrols," Teddy grimaced. "Another job left to the fifth year prefects apparently."

"Oh well have fun with that then!" Victoire said. "You must be pretty excited. You get to be out after curfew, you get to hand out detentions and send people to their Heads of House…"

"Yeah, it's a dream come true," Teddy smirked. "Now go on, get up to your dorms before someone accuses me of being soft and letting underclassmen stay at the party. And a first year no less!"

Victoire stuck out her tongue. "Fifth year Teddy is no fun," she pouted, pushing Dominique towards the stairs. "I want fourth year Teddy back. He actually liked hanging out with me."

"I didn't know Teddy was a prefect!" Dominique said as the sisters climbed the stairs.

"Didn't he lead you back to Gryffindor Tower?" Victoire asked.

"Well yeah, but I meant before that," Dominique amended. "He never said anything when we were at Uncle Harry's for dinner last week."

"I think he wanted it to be a surprise," Victoire said.

"Well I'm surprised!" Dominique said.

"This is my dorm," Victoire said when they reached her floor, gesturing to the door. "I think it's time to say goodnight."

"Okay," Dominique said, her smile slipping a little.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Victoire promised.

"Yeah, alright," Dominique muttered.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Victoire asked.

"It's nothing," Dominique assured her sister. "I'm just nervous about classes in the morning."

"Well it's going to be fine," Victoire said. "They don't even assign real work on the first day. The Professors are just going to introduce themselves and talk about the subjects they're teaching."

"What if I can't find my way around?" Dominique asked.

"That's what prefects are for," Victoire said. "They'll be all over the place making sure that you all find your way to where you need to go."

"Okay," Dominique said, yawning.

"I think it's time you went to bed," Victoire smiled, giving her sister a hug. "I'll see you at breakfast."

"What if I can't find my way back to the Great Hall – "

"You'll be fine," Victoire said. "Stop worrying."

As Dominique headed up the stairs, Victoire slipped back into her dorm to rejoin her friends and get her nails painted before it got too late.

"Did you get everything sorted out?" Kara asked when she flopped down on her bed.

"Yeah," Victoire confirmed. "She's going to be just fine."


	2. October

Chapter 2: October 2013

The first weekend of October was an exciting one for the Hogwarts third years. Now that they were old enough, it was going to be their first trip to Hogsmeade. Victoire was extremely excited. Teddy always came back from Hogsmeade weekends with the best stories and purchases. All summer, Victoire had done as many chores around the house as possible so that she would have spending money to use during her trips to the village.

The morning of the trip, Victoire rose early, eager not to miss a second. She took a quick shower and fixed her hair all before Kara and Brianna even woke up. By the time they were stumbling into the bathroom, she was already working on her makeup.

"Come on guys," she insisted. "Get ready, I want to get there before the stores sell out of all the good stuff."

"What 'good stuff' are you talking about?" Brianna asked. "From what I've heard, it's basically a candy shop, a joke shop, and some pub."

"First of all, it's not 'some joke shop'," Victoire said. "It's called Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and it's run by two of my uncles – one of them is uncle Ron, remember, he talked about it when you interviewed him that time for Professor Leftbridge's summer assignment?"

"Okay, fine, but it's still a joke shop," Brianna said.

"Secondly," Victoire continued, "there's way more than that. There's this really nice clothing store for one, and there's tons of other little shops we can poke around in."

"Alright fine, I'm getting ready," Brianna sighed, jumping into the shower while Kara started splashing water on her face, foregoing the shower altogether.

Victoire was sad that her friends weren't as excited about this as she was. Luckily, Teddy and Billy had volunteered to show them around the village that morning, and they were almost as excited as Victoire was to play tour guide.

When Kara and Brianna were finally ready, the girls descended to the Great Hall for a quick breakfast before meeting up with the boys in the Entrance Hall. Mr. Clarke was waiting by the castle doors with a list, making sure everyone who left for the village had permission.

"Name?" he asked when Victoire and her friends walked up to him.

"Victoire Weasley," Victoire muttered.

"Ah, you again!" Mr. Clarke exclaimed. "I haven't seen you in a while. Keeping out of trouble?"

"I guess so," Victoire said, faking a smile while he checked her off.

"You guys are friends?" Teddy asked once they were heading down the front steps.

"Definitely not," Victoire said emphatically. "I was out after curfew on his first patrol and he caught me and brought me to see the Headmistress."

"What were you doing out after curfew?" Teddy asked, focusing in Victoire's opinion on the wrong part of the story.

"It was on a dare," Victoire assured him. "I don't usually wander the school after hours."

"You broke curfew on a dare?" Teddy cried. "Please tell me you didn't lose us points over this. If we lost to Ravenclaw over something as silly as – "

"Calm down, it was only twenty points. Ravenclaw beat us by at least fifty," Victoire said. "If you're going to be mad at someone, be mad at Kara. She's the one who dared me."

"So that's what the three of you are doing when you're sitting in your little secret circle in the common room?" Teddy asked. "Daring each other to do pointless things?"

"It wasn't pointless," Kara said. "I didn't just dare her to wander around, I needed her to get my textbook. I left it in the Great Hall."

"You know it still would have been there at breakfast," Billy interjected.

"Yeah, but I didn't like it not being where it should be," Kara said. "Besides, it made for a good dare."

"How many other times have you lost Gryffindor house points like this?" Teddy wondered.

"Almost never," Brianna assured him.

"Oh, _almost_ never," Teddy said. "Well I feel much better now."

"Calm down Mr. Prefect," Victoire said. "Everyone gets into some trouble. Just be glad we aren't roaming the forest at night. That could actually be dangerous."

When they reached the village, Billy jumped straight into tour guide mode, taking them on a walk up and down the street while showing them all the shops. He even insisted they take a walk up to the Shrieking Shack, claiming that no third year could claim to have experienced Hogsmeade until they'd been to see the Shrieking Shack. By the time the tour was over, they were all tired and hungry, so Teddy suggested they grab a bite to eat at the Three Broomsticks.

The place was extremely crowded when they got there. It seemed that every Hogwarts student third year and over had chosen to have lunch at this particular time. There was a small table in the back that was free, so Victoire ran over to claim it while her friends went up to the counter to place their order.

"Here we go," Billy said as everyone came over to join Victoire at the table. "Butterbeers all around." He slid Victoire's glass over to her and she took a nice big gulp. It was her first butterbeer, as her parents had never bought them for their children, and it was delicious. It was like liquid caramel, so sugary and creamy and obviously extremely unhealthy.

"So what are you guys up to this afternoon?" Victoire asked.

"Oh, we're going to meet up with some of the guys and see if Uncle George is in today. He usually makes a point of being at this location on Hogsmeade weekends and sometimes he'll let us have a few free samples," Teddy replied.

"Ugh," Victoire muttered. "I don't need any more free joke stuff. He's already given me loads of products for the past three birthdays."

"Hey," Billy said. "You can never have enough puking pastilles."

"I think you can," Victoire said, making a face.

"I definitely want to check out Gladrags," Brianna declared. "They do sell things besides robes, right?"

"Oh absolutely," Teddy confirmed. "They've got everything. Just be careful, because some of their stuff can get a little pricey."

"I know it's so typical, but we definitely have to go to Honeydukes before we leave," Kara added. "After all the stories, it would be practically a sin not to at least look around."

"We should check out Madam Primpernelle's Beauty Salon and Spa too," Victoire suggested.

"Well it sounds like you've got a whole afternoon ahead of you," Teddy said as their food arrived.

"Well there isn't another Hogsmeade weekend until the middle of November," Victoire pointed out. "We have to make the most of this while we can."

When they had finished their food and paid, the group parted ways, the boys heading off to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes while the girls decided to check out Madam Primpernelle's place first.

"Oh my God, it's amazing!" Brianna exclaimed when they entered. The front area was filled with shelves and shelves of beauty products; makeup, hair products, nail polish, bath soaps, moisturizers… everything a girl could possibly need. Even better, there was a large sign on the wall indicating that the establishment also offered magical massages, manicures, pedicures, facials, waxing, hair cuts, and even had tubs in the back for relaxing.

"Hello dearies!" an older lady with an excessive amount of jewelry exclaimed, emerging from the door leading to the back area. "How can I help you today?"

"Oh, we were just looking around," Victoire said.

"Do you have a list of prices for the services you offer?" Brianna asked.

"Oh honey, of course I do!" the lady, who Victoire assumed could only be Madam Primpernelle, said. She opened a drawer behind her desk and handed Brianna a pamphlet.

"Wow," Kara said, leaning over Brianna's shoulder to see the pamphlet. "Some of these treatments are pretty expensive."

"Well of course sweetie," Madam Primpernelle replied. "But I assure you, everything here is of the best quality."

"Of course," Brianna said. "Thank you, we'll probably be back sometime."

They left, and Brianna requested that they check out Gladrags next. Though it looked from the outside like they only sold robes, the minute they stepped inside, the girls discovered that Teddy had been right. The robes only took up a small portion of the shop in the front, and the rest was filled with tons of nice tops sweaters and skirts and dresses – anything a girl could dream of wearing. The girls spent a couple of hours browsing and trying things on, but in the end, only Brianna purchased something – a red sweater that looked absolutely fantastic on her.

At that point, it was starting to get late, so the girls agreed that they would visit Honeydukes like Kara wanted and then head back up to the castle. Typical of third years, Kara bought three sugar quills, a chocolate frog, and a pack of licorice wands while Victoire bought two chocolate frogs, a bag of sherbet lemons, and a box of fizzing whizzbees. Brianna insisted that she refused to spend her money on something so unhealthy, but on their walk back up to the school, she caved and accepted when Victoire offered her one of her sherbet lemons.

They returned just in time for dinner, slipping into the Great Hall and taking seats at the end of the table.

"So, did you have a good afternoon?" Teddy asked, coming into dinner with Billy and some of his other dorm mates twenty minutes late.

"Yeah, how about you?" Victoire asked.

"Not so good," Teddy confessed. "Uncle Ron was in the shop today."

"Oh yeah," Victoire said. "He never gives anything away."

"We're going to try again next time though," Teddy added.

"Of course you are," Victoire rolled her eyes. It wasn't as though Teddy and his friends needed free joke products. And Teddy was a prefect now, so shouldn't he be above such childish antics?

"Maybe we should check out your uncles' joke shop next time," Kara suggested.

"Why?" Brianna asked. "It's just going to be a bunch of fake wands and trick quills."

"I think it could be fun," Kara said.

"It wouldn't hurt to poke in for a bit," Victoire agreed.

"Whatever," Brianna rolled her eyes. "I'm going to owl my mother and see if she'll send me enough to get a facial at Madam Primpernelle's next time."

"Really?" Kara asked. "Why? Your face is gorgeous."

"Well of course it is," Brianna said. "But it won't stay that way unless I maintain it. You guys should think about having treatments done too."

"Maybe," Victoire murmured. She knew her mother wouldn't send her money just like that, and she wasn't sure she wanted to pay for an expensive treatment and use up all the money she'd made over the summer in one go.

"Yeah, we'll think about it," Kara agreed, sharing a side glance with Victoire. She didn't seem 100% sure about the treatment thing either, but neither wanted to say so in front of Brianna.

VvVvVvVvVvV

Before they knew it, October was coming to a close and it was time for the annual Hogwarts Halloween party. As usual, Victoire's mother had agreed to make the girls costumes, and this year, they were going as fairies. Thankfully, their wings weren't as complicated as the ones they'd worn the previous year and they were able to get their costumes on by themselves. The makeup was another thing. Fleur had sent over tons and tons of glitter paint for their faces, along with instructions for how to apply it for the best effect. It took the girls a solid hour and a half just to get each other's faces painted up and ready to be seen in public.

"I'd say this is your mother's best job yet," Brianna said once the girls were dressed and admiring themselves in the bathroom mirror.

"Definitely," Kara agreed. "These costumes are spectacular."

"Thanks," Victoire smiled. "She'll be glad to hear it."

They were already a little late for the party, but that was fine. Brianna informed them that making their entrance fashionably late would only increase their popularity. They headed down and entered just as a new song was starting and the girls eagerly ran out onto the dance floor and started dancing.

"Hey girls, can we join you?" a trio of Gryffindor boys asked, dancing over to them. It was Johnathan Cadwallader, Joseph Alderton, and Nathaniel Peterson.

"Sure," Brianna said, making space for them all to dance together.

They danced together for a few songs, and then the music changed to a slow song.

"We should pair off," Brianna declared. "Johnathan, you dance with Kara. Nathaniel can dance with Victoire and I'll dance with Joseph."

Brianna grabbed Joseph and pulled him towards her, leading the dance while he just blindly followed. Johnathan reached for Kara's hand and she took it, allowing him to sweep her around and into the crowd. Feeling awkward, Victoire looked at Nathaniel and shrugged.

"I guess we should dance?" she said, more of a question than a statement.

"I guess so," Nathaniel shrugged back.

There was an awkward moment where they both reached for each other in opposite directions and Victoire blushed apologetically, realizing she'd gone the wrong way. She'd never danced with a boy before, and she had to admit she was really nervous. They tried again and got it this time. They clasped hands on one side, while Victoire leaned her other hand on Nathaniel's shoulder while he placed his hand on her back, swaying her back and forth in time with the other couples around them.

Once she got into the rhythm, Victoire realized dancing with a boy was actually nice. When the song finished and a second one started, Nathaniel asked if she'd like to dance with him again and she accepted. She was having a really nice time, she realized. Nathaniel was really nice and she was having a lot of fun.

"Do you want to get something to eat?" Nathaniel asked when the second song finished and a more upbeat song started.

"Sure," Victoire said agreeably. As they departed from the dance floor, she looked around to try and locate her friends. Kara and Johnathan were still out on the dance floor dancing, but Brianna was nowhere to be found.

"Cauldron cake?" Nathaniel asked.

"Sure," Victoire accepted it, biting into it and trying to eat the pastry with as much grace as she could.

"You look really pretty by the way," Nathaniel told her.

"Thanks," Victoire smiled. "Your costume is pretty cool too," she added. Nathaniel was dressed as a vampire – he was wearing a long cloak with the collar flipped up, and he had clearly found some sort of spell to give himself temporary fangs.

"Thanks," Nathaniel replied. "My older brother had to do my fangs."

"Is it a complicated spell?" Victoire asked.

"Not really," Nathaniel shrugged. "It was just really uncomfortable to have my own wand pointed at myself."

"You didn't just ask one of your roommates to do it?" Victoire said.

"Are you kidding?" Nathaniel cried. "Those buffoons? I could have ended up without any teeth at all if I'd let them do it!"

Victoire laughed. "They can't be that bad."

"Oh trust me, they are. Adrian's the worst, I think. All he can ever talk about is Quidditch and how he's going to make the team one day. It's so annoying. He never does any schoolwork, he just hangs out by the Quidditch pitch all day watching the teams practice, and then when there's nobody practicing, he takes his broom out and trains."

"Oh my gosh, that's just like Caitlin," Victoire said. "She even wakes up super early every morning to run around the castle five times before breakfast. She's convinced that if she stays in shape, she's bound to make the team eventually."

"Adrian does that too!" Nathaniel said. "Hey, maybe they secretly run together."

"That would be so weird," Victoire said.

"It would," Nathaniel agreed. "Although if they were training together, it would explain why Adrian didn't come back after tryouts all upset about not making the team again. Last year, it took all four of us to convince him not to give up."

"We had the same thing happen with Caitlin last year," Victoire said. "And actually… yeah, this year she was fine after tryouts. I think you're right, I think they're secretly training together."

"I wonder why he never mentioned it," Nathaniel wondered.

"I know why Caitlin never mentioned it," Victoire muttered.

"Why?" Nathaniel asked.

"Oh, we don't get along so well," Victoire admitted. "There was even a time back in first year when she tried to convince Professor Longbottom to transfer Brianna, Kara, and me to a different house."

"Well it's a good thing he didn't!" Nathaniel said. "Gryffindor Tower wouldn't be the same without the three of you."

"Aww, thanks," Victoire said, touched.

"So do you maybe want to dance a bit more?" Nathaniel asked.

"Sure!" Victoire agreed, allowing him to lead her back out to the dance floor.

They danced for another hour or so before Victoire declared that she was exhausted and maybe she should head in. Now that they'd gotten over their initial awkwardness around each other, they got along really well and found they had a lot to talk about.

"Yeah, I should turn in too," Nathaniel agreed. "I'll walk you back."

"Alright," Victoire shrugged as he held the door open for her to leave the hall.

On the walk back, they continued swapping roommate horror stories until they reached the seventh floor. They reached the Fat Lady and gave her the password, and then stood awkwardly in the near-empty common room staring at each other.

"Well this was fun," Victoire said, not sure what she was supposed to say.

"Yeah, we should do it again sometime," Nathaniel agreed.

"Well, goodnight I guess," Victoire said.

"Yeah, goodnight," Nathaniel said. He took a step closer and before she even knew what was happening, he gave her a swift kiss on the lips.

Victoire could feel her entire face heat up as he pulled back, looking at her expectantly.

"Goodnight," she squeaked as he turned and ran up the staircase to the boys' dorms.

"And who was that?" a stern voice asked from behind her.

"Teddy!" Victoire cried out in surprise, spinning around. "What are you doing here?"

"I was going up to my dorm," Teddy said. His arms were crossed and he didn't look very happy. "Who was that?"

"Just a guy in my class," Victoire shrugged, her face heating up even more now that she was being given the third degree. "It's no big deal."

"I would say it's a very big deal," Teddy said. "You're only thirteen and you're already kissing boys? What would your parents think?"

"Don't you dare write my parents about this!" Victoire cried. "I'm thirteen, I don't need you keeping watch over me like some overprotective father anymore. I might've needed some watching when I was in first year, but I'm in third year now and I think I can take care of myself!"

"Well clearly you do still need someone watching over you, because otherwise you wouldn't be kissing random guys in the common room at all hours of the night!" Teddy shot back.

"Excuse me?" Victoire exclaimed. "First of all, his name is Nathaniel. He's not some random guy, we were at the Halloween party together. We danced together almost all night. And for the record, it was one kiss, and it's not even nine o'clock yet."

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't realize you'd danced together. That makes everything okay," Teddy said sarcastically.

"I don't see what the big problem is," Victoire said. "So I kissed a guy, so what? I'm sure you kiss girls all the time."

"Sure," Teddy said, suddenly seeming flustered. "But not in the middle of the common room where anyone could see me, and certainly not when I was thirteen."

"Well I'm sorry I didn't want to wait until I was middle aged before I had my first kiss," Victoire retorted.

"You know what?" Teddy cried. "You do what you want. I'm done watching out for you. You're on your own now."

That said, Teddy stomped up the stairs, leaving Victoire standing dumbstruck in the middle of the common room.

"What're you looking at?" she demanded when she noticed the only other occupants of the room, a couple of second years, staring at her.

VvVvVvVvVvV

"Oh my gosh, I have so much to tell you," Victoire squealed in the bathroom once her friends had returned from the party as they cleaned the makeup off their faces. "Guess what happened after Nathaniel and I left the party?"

"Oh my gosh, you didn't!" Brianna exclaimed excitedly.

"What?" Kara asked, not catching on as quickly as Brianna.

"He kissed me!" Victoire cried. Even though Teddy had made it seem like some big crime, she wasn't going to let him ruin her night, and she knew her friends would be appropriately enthusiastic.

"Seriously?" Kara cried. "Oh my gosh that's amazing!"

"My little Victoire, all grown up," Brianna cooed. "So how was it?"

"What do you mean?" Victoire asked.

"The kiss, how was it?" Brianna asked.

"Oh, fine I guess," Victoire replied. "It wasn't that long, so I didn't have much time to think about it."

"Did he say anything afterward?" Brianna asked.

"No," Victoire replied. "We said goodnight, and then he kissed me, and then he ran up the stairs."

"Oh my gosh, that's so adorable," Brianna said. "I bet he's just shy."

"Yeah," Victoire agreed. "I mean; he did leave kind of fast… do you think I did it wrong?" She started to panic. Maybe he'd run off because he didn't like her anymore.

"Don't worry Victoire, I'm sure that's not it," Kara assured her. "It was probably his first kiss too."

"Yeah," Victoire agreed, trying to shake the doubt from her mind.

"I guess either way you'll find out tomorrow," Brianna shrugged.

"I guess so," Victoire frowned. "What if tomorrow is super awkward though?" she asked.

"It probably will be," Brianna said. "But the important thing is that once you get through tomorrow, however it goes, things will only get easier after."

"I think I'm going to go to bed now," Victoire said. Brianna wasn't making her feel much better and she was exhausted. "I'll see you in the morning."

"We should try and get to the Great Hall early tomorrow morning," Brianna suggested. "That way he's the one who has to choose whether to sit with you or not."

"Alright," Victoire agreed, walking over to her bed and pulling the curtains shut. She didn't get much sleep that night. Every time she started to fall asleep, she woke herself with panicked thoughts of how the following morning would play out. It wasn't until three or four in the morning that she finally managed to fall into a proper sleep.


	3. November

Chapter 3: November 2013

The next morning, Victoire was a disaster. She awoke long before anyone else so that she could take a long shower, and by the time Kara and Brianna found her an hour and a half later, she was sitting in front of a mirror in the bathroom, trying out every hairdo imaginable.

"Victoire, calm down," Brianna said. "It's not that big a deal."

"Easy for you to say," Victoire muttered as she pinned her hair into an elaborate up-do.

"Just wear it down," Kara said. "Otherwise you look like you're trying."

"Okay," Victoire said, pulling the pins out and letting her hair fall back down, still perfectly straight. "What should I wear? I was thinking maybe my purple sweater…"

"Wear your robes," Brianna said as she washed her face. "We have classes, it's the rules."

"Right," Victoire muttered.

Eventually, they were all ready and Victoire nervously followed her friends down to the Great Hall. She was later than she'd hoped, and when they walked in, it was to discover that Nathaniel and his friends were already there eating breakfast.

"Oh my God, what do I do?" Victoire panicked. "Do I go over there?"

"No," Brianna shook her head, pulling her friend to the end of the table and forcing her to sit. "You stay right here and eat. If anyone's going to come up to anyone, it's going to be him."

"What if he doesn't see me?" Victoire asked.

"We're sitting right by the door," Brianna pointed out. "He'll have to pass by to leave."

"What if he sees me and doesn't say anything?" Victoire asked.

Before Brianna could answer, someone behind Victoire cleared their throat awkwardly and Kara made a face from across the table. Victoire turned around to find Nathaniel awkwardly shuffling his feet.

"Hey Victoire," he said, not making eye contact.

"Oh, hey," Victoire said, trying to act nonchalant.

"So, I was thinking… maybe you'd want to sit with me in potions today?" he asked.

"Yeah," Victoire said, her heart leaping for joy but trying to cover the excitement. "Definitely."

"Okay, cool," Nathaniel said.

"Cool," Victoire agreed.

Nathaniel stood there for a moment longer. "Well, I'd better… uh…" he pointed in the direction of where his friends were sitting.

"Yeah, totally," Victoire nodded.

"Okay," he said, a half smile on his face. He hurried off and Victoire tried to ignore it as his friends welcomed him back with slaps on the back and loud exclamations of 'bro!'.

"Well you can stop worrying now," Brianna rolled her eyes.

Potions was the third years' first class of the day. Victoire, Kara, and Brianna waited until Nathaniel and his friends had left the Great Hall and gave it five minutes before they followed, descending down to the dungeons. When they walked in, Nathaniel was sitting at a table near the back, the seat next to him still empty.

"Here I go," Victoire said, taking a deep breath. She walked over and sat down on the stool, dumping her bag on the floor next to her. "Hey," she said nervously.

"Hey," Nathaniel replied. "So last night was fun."

"Yeah," Victoire agreed.

"Oh, you thought so too?" he asked, clearly feeling a little insecure about Victoire's response to what had happened.

"Absolutely," Victoire agreed.

Thankfully, at that moment, Professor Abbott-Longbottom began the class, putting an end to their awkward conversation. Victoire found it a little difficult to focus during class, because suddenly she was extremely aware of Nathaniel's presence right next to her. When class was over, he offered to carry her bag for her as they ascended to the third floor for History of Magic.

"I can never stay awake during Professor Binns' lectures," Nathaniel said as they walked.

"Me neither," Victoire agreed. "I don't understand why they don't just fire him. I mean, is a ghost really a suitable teacher?"

"You know what I want to know?" Nathaniel asked.

"What?" Victoire said.

"How does he grade our essays?" he wondered. "He's a ghost, not a poltergeist. Every class that something's due, we put our assignments on the desk at the front, and the next class, the assignments are sitting in the exact same spot with a grade on it."

"Hey you're right, that is weird," Victoire agreed.

"I have a theory," Nathaniel said. "But everybody says it's completely ridiculous."

"Let's hear it," Victoire requested.

"Okay, so what if he has a house elf read the papers out to him, and then he dictates the grade and the elf marks it down?" he said.

"Ooh, that's interesting," Victoire said. "But he could probably read the papers fine on his own. It's just shuffling through the stack he'd have trouble with."

"Good point," Nathaniel agreed.

They sat together again in History of Magic, and when it was time for lunch, they sat together in the Great Hall, knowing that their friends were watching them. When lunch was over though, they finally had to part ways, because Victoire had Care of Magical Creatures and Nathaniel had Arithmancy.

"Oh my gosh, tell us everything!" Kara exclaimed when Victoire emerged from the castle. She and Brianna had been waiting for her in the Entrance Courtyard.

Victoire shrugged. "There's not much to tell," she said. "We've just been hanging out."

"Did he mention the kiss?" Kara asked.

"No," Victoire frowned. "Should he have?"

"Definitely not," Brianna said. "That would just be weird and uncomfortable."

"Do you think he's going to kiss you again?" Kara asked.

"Well he'd better not try and kiss her today!" Brianna cried.

"Why not?" Kara asked.

"Because this wasn't a date. The party was like a date, but this was just going to class. If he wants to kiss her again, he had to ask her out first," Brianna explained.

"How're you supposed to ask someone out on a date when you live at a school?" Kara asked.

"He has tons of options," Brianna said. "He could ask her to Hogsmeade, or they could have a private study date in the library. Or they could sit out by the lake and watch the sunset – "

"It's a little cold to be sitting out by the lake at night," Victoire interjected.

"Oh hush," Brianna batted her hand in front of Victoire's face.

"Excuse me, this is my date we're talking about," Victoire pointed out. "A date I haven't even been asked on yet."

"Oh, he'll ask you," Brianna smiled. "I can tell. He'll ask you out."

As it turned out, Brianna was right. After a week of sitting together in their shared classes and of having Nathaniel carry her book bag, he finally plucked up the courage and asked if she wanted to go to Hogsmeade with him at the next Hogsmeade weekend.

"Sure," Victoire said.

"We could meet in the Entrance Hall and go down together," he suggested. "Or else, we could just meet there if you had some shopping you wanted to do beforehand."

"How about we meet for lunch at the Three Broomsticks around noon?" Victoire suggested. "Then we can hang out in the afternoon?" She would have accepted the first offer, but she had decided she wanted to buy a skirt she'd tried on at Gladrags on their last trip and didn't think Nathaniel would take all that well to being dragged to a clothing store on their date.

"Okay, cool," Nathaniel nodded.

VvVvVvVvVvV

"Hey Teddy," Victoire greeted her friend as she crossed paths with him in the common room one evening. She hadn't seen him much over the past two weeks and had been starting to wonder where he'd gotten himself to.

"Oh, hey Victoire," Teddy greeted her. "Can't really talk, I've got patrols."

"Hold on, I wanted to ask you something," Victoire said, following him out into the hall. "This weekend is a Hogsmeade weekend."

"Yeah, it is," Teddy confirmed. "What's the question?"

"Oh," Victoire said, confused at Teddy's attitude. "Well I just wanted to know if you wanted to walk down with Brianna and Kara and me and maybe hang out for a bit in the morning. I want to stop by Gladrags, but Kara's insisting we go to Uncle George's shop, and I know you always go."

"Sorry, I can't," Teddy said shortly, walking away before Victoire could ask why.

"That was weird," she muttered to herself as she re-entered the common room.

"What was weird?" Brianna asked, overhearing Victoire's muttering.

"Teddy, he's been acting strange ever since Halloween. We had a bit of a fight, but I thought he'd be over it by now," Victoire said.

"What'd you fight about?" Brianna asked.

"Oh, he walked into the common room and saw Nathaniel kiss me and he got all weird and older-brother like and I might have yelled a bit," Victoire said.

"Maybe you should apologize," Kara suggested.

"What, for kissing someone?" Victoire asked, affronted.

"No, for yelling," Kara said.

"Oh," Victoire said. "I don't know, maybe. I guess it couldn't hurt."

Try as she might, Victoire was unable to find Teddy to apologize before that weekend, so she, Kara, and Brianna walked down to Hogsmeade on their own. Their first stop was Gladrags, where Victoire made a beeline right to the skirt she'd wanted, trying it on one last time before committing to the purchase. Kara found a sweater she liked and tried it on, but in the end decided she didn't like it as much as when it was on the hanger. Brianna got distracted by the shoe selection and had to be dragged out of the store.

"Did you guys want to stop at Madam Primpernelle's for anything?" Victoire asked as they passed the salon. "Kara, I know you're running low on shampoo because I accidentally used your bottle yesterday."

"Oh, actually we're going to come by this afternoon," Brianna told her. "My mother sent me the money for my facial, and Kara decided to get a pedicure."

"Oh," Victoire said. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well you have your big date," Kara explained. "So we knew you wouldn't have time for a treatment."

"Good point," Victoire realized.

"Maybe next time you can get something done too," Brianna suggested.

"Yeah, maybe," Victoire agreed half-heartedly.

The girls headed to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes next to discover that Uncle George was in.

"Victoire!" he exclaimed the moment he saw her. "So good to see you in my little shop. And you brought your friends!"

"Yeah, this is Kara and Brianna," Victoire introduced. "Guys, this is my Uncle George."

"George Weasley," Uncle George said, shaking each of their hands. "Founder, owner, and manager of this humble establishment."

Victoire rolled her eyes. "Come on Uncle George, you don't have to try and impress them, I've already turned them against you."

"What?" George gasped in false-shock. "My own niece! And here I was about to give you all free samples. But I suppose those nice children over there would take them instead."

"Uncle George," Victoire sang.

"Oh alright," Uncle George sighed. "Look around, have fun, and come and see me before you buy anything."

He walked away then to deal with another customer.

"Your Uncle is so cool," Kara said jealously.

"Well sure he seems cool to you, you just met him. Trust me, he's totally lame," Victoire said.

It took the girls a while to make it through the whole store – there were two levels, and tons of displays filled with all sorts of crazy things, some that Victoire was sure she'd never seen before. Before she knew it, it was five to twelve and Victoire had to hurry if she wanted to make it to the Three Broomsticks on time to meet Nathaniel.

"Sorry guys, I've got to go," Victoire said. "My Uncle will totally let you take some free stuff though if you don't take too much, so you should definitely take advantage of that."

"Have fun!" Kara called after her as she left the store and hurried down the street.

She arrived at the pub two minutes early and a quick scan told her that Nathaniel wasn't there yet. It was crowded as usual, so she grabbed a small two-seater by one of the windows and when a waitress came by, she took the liberty of ordering two butterbeers.

"Victoire!' Nathaniel greeted her, arriving barely three minutes late and taking the seat across from her. "Sorry, I was at Honeydukes and my friends were being stupid and wouldn't let me leave."

"Don't worry about it, it's like, twelve-o-three," Victoire said.

"I bought you something," Nathaniel said.

"Really?" Victoire asked, surprised.

"Yeah, here," he said, reaching into his bag and pulling out a chocolate frog. "You know, chocolate and stuff," he muttered, his face turning red.

Their butterbeers came, which was good, because it gave Nathaniel something to do.

"Well thank you," Victoire said. "It's great, I love it."

The waitress returned and they ordered their meals. Nathaniel asked Victoire what she'd gotten up to that morning and she started to tell him about Gladrags when she noticed Teddy leaving the pub.

"Hang on just a minute," Victoire said, jumping up. "I'm sorry, I swear I'll be right back."

She hurried out, hoping she would be fast enough to catch Teddy. As she emerged from the Three Broomsticks, she saw him entering the Apothecary across the street. She ran over and entered the small store, surprising him and causing him to drop a jar of what Victoire was pretty sure were rat eyeballs.

"Victoire!" Teddy exclaimed. "What are you doing?"

"I just wanted to apologize," Victoire said.

"Apologize?" Teddy asked.

"For Halloween," Victoire clarified. "I yelled and I shouldn't have. You were looking out for me and I shouldn't have gotten mad about that."

"Oh, I – yeah," Teddy muttered.

"So are we good then?" Victoire asked.

"Sure," Teddy replied.

"You'll stop avoiding me like I have the plague?" Victoire smiled.

"Yeah," Teddy smiled back. "Okay."

"Good," Victoire said. "Well, I've got to go. And sorry about making you drop that. Did you want me to pay – "

"No, it's fine, it was my fault," Teddy assured her. "I'll take care of it."

"Alright," Victoire said. "Bye!"

She returned to the Three Broomsticks to find that their food had been delivered while she'd been out. She apologized profusely to Nathaniel for disappearing, but explained that she'd needed to apologize to a friend and that he'd been avoiding her and she'd seen the opportunity. He assured her it was fine and they enjoyed their lunch in peace.

They spent the rest of the afternoon strolling the street. They poked into a few shops – Tomes and Scrolls, Dogweed and Deathcap, Ceridwen's Cauldrons, and Scrivenshaft's to name a few. About mid-afternoon, Victoire decided to open her chocolate frog and they split it.

When it started to get darker and some of the shops began to close, Nathaniel suggested that they head back up to the castle. As they made their way back, it started to snow, and Victoire joyfully spread her arms out and began twirling and trying to catch a snowflake on her tongue.

"I love the beginning of winter," Victoire confessed. "It's so magical. The snow is so pretty and perfect."

"Yeah, but don't you hate how cold it gets?" Nathaniel asked.

"Not really," Victoire replied. "I mean; this weather is great. Obviously once winter comes for real it gets obnoxiously cold, but I don't like that snow anyway. It's all slushy and grey and trampled on and piled in heaps. I like it better when it's just a light dusting atop the grass."

"So basically when the grass looks like it has dandruff," Nathaniel joked.

"Well if you want to put it that way," Victoire laughed.

"I had a lot of fun today," Nathaniel said, suddenly turning serious. They'd arrived at the castle and were standing in front of the doors that led to the Entrance Hall.

"Yeah, so did I," Victoire said.

"Do… do you think it would be alright it I…" Nathaniel trailed off, embarrassed.

"If you kissed me again?" Victoire asked, hoping to Merlin that was what he was trying to say.

Nathaniel looked back up. "Yeah," he said.

"Yeah, that would be okay," Victoire said, feeling her cheeks flush as he took a step closer.

Suddenly, there was a loud noise and the sound of someone cursing. Victoire and Nathaniel sprung apart and turned to see the disappearing figure of a Hogwarts student.

"Teddy?" Victoire frowned, pretty sure it was her friend.

"Well, I should be going," Nathaniel said, the nerve he'd built up gone now that they'd been interrupted.

"Okay," Victoire said sadly. "I'll see you around?" she asked.

"Yeah," Nathaniel agreed. "Maybe we could meet up some time tomorrow to study?"

"Okay," Victoire agreed. "Maybe around two?"

"Sure," Nathaniel agreed. "In the library?"

"I'll be there," Victoire smiled.

Nathaniel said goodbye and went inside while Victoire waited until he was gone to run off in the direction she was pretty sure she'd just seen Teddy go.

"Teddy?" she called, running over to where he'd been before. He was nowhere to be seen, but the only exit was the covered bridge, so she assumed he'd taken it. She ran across it, emerging on the other side to find Teddy sitting on a large rock. "Teddy?" she asked.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry," Teddy apologized.

"What were you doing?" she asked.

"I was just coming back from Hogsmeade. I didn't know you two were going to be there, and then I saw what was happening and I didn't want to stand there and watch it again, so I thought I'd just go back and give you your privacy, but then I stubbed my toe really bad and you heard me and I didn't want you to think I was trying to be your father or anything, so I ran off, hoping you wouldn't know it was me."

"Well that was sweet," Victoire said.

"Did I ruin it?" Teddy asked.

"Kind of, yeah," Victoire admitted. "But we're meeting up to study tomorrow. I think it might be like a study date, so you know, maybe – "

"You know what?" Teddy interrupted. "I don't think I need to hear the details."

"Sorry," Victoire apologized.

"I should probably…" Teddy pointed in the direction of the bridge. "Billy and the guys are already in there," he muttered.

"Yeah, I should probably go back too," Victoire agreed.

They walked together in awkward silence. It was weird. Usually they had to much to talk about, but suddenly neither of them could think of a thing to say.

"Well I'm going to go up to the dorm and drop this off before dinner," Victoire declared when they arrived in the Entrance Hall, looking for an excuse to part from Teddy.

"Yeah, and I should go eat food," Teddy said, pointing at the Great Hall.

"Okay, great," Victoire said. "See you around."

She hurried up the stairs as quickly as possible until she was out of sight and then she slowed down. What was happening to their friendship? Were they drifting apart? Had the age gap become too noticeable? Victoire didn't really feel it, but maybe now that Teddy was an upperclassman and she was still just a third year, he didn't want to hang around with her as much.

"Hey Victoire!" Dominique greeted her when she arrived in the common room. "How was your day?"

"It was fine," Victoire muttered, racing up the stairs to her dorm and shutting the door behind her. She didn't mean to blow off her sister, but she was frustrated. Why was Teddy acting so weird? Why did things have to change? She liked them the way they were.


	4. December

Chapter 4: December 2013

December arrived, and with it, the weather grew colder and more and more snow began to fall. Victoire stared out at the grounds grumpily each morning, knowing that her favorite season of almost-winter had already passed. Despite the approaching of the Christmas holidays, Victoire didn't feel in a cheerful mood at all. She'd barely spoken to Teddy since the Hogsmeade weekend in November – every time she saw him he seemed to be just leaving or late for an appointment with a Professor. Meanwhile, things with Nathaniel were becoming boring. At first the prospect of having a boyfriend had seemed exciting to Victoire, but she was coming to realize that it wasn't as fun as she'd imagined. After the first few weeks, they ran out of much to talk about and for some reason, Nathaniel was always insisting they play wizard's chess – a game Victoire hated.

"You should just break up with him," Brianna told her. "Get it over with."

"I don't want to hurt him," Victoire protested.

"So instead you're going to lead him on?" Brianna questioned.

"We're in third year," Victoire shrugged. "It's not like either of us thought this relationship was going to last very long."

"Well if you don't do something about it, then it's not going to go anywhere," Brianna pointed out.

"Can't I just wait and see what happens?" Victoire asked. "Maybe we'll just drift apart."

"You sit together in every class, you eat meals together, you study together in the library… that doesn't look like a dying relationship to be," Brianna pointed out.

Victoire knew Brianna was right. If she wasn't interested in Nathaniel, she had to tell him. The problem was, he was actually really nice, and Victoire had never broken up with a guy before. She'd asked Brianna what she should do, but Brianna's suggestion had seemed much too cold and unfeeling. She'd asked Kara what she thought, but Kara was as in the dark as Victoire, having even less experience with boys than she. Victoire wished she could talk to Teddy about this. He was older. He'd probably dated before and would know what to do. But every time she tried to talk to him, he insisted he needed to be somewhere.

The December Hogsmeade weekend came and went. Victoire and Nathaniel went to the village together and Victoire convinced herself she was going to break up with him on their date. She waited for the perfect opportunity. Unfortunately, their first stop was Honeydukes and Nathaniel bought her some more chocolate, which made her feel guilty about wanting to break up with such a nice guy.

She allowed herself to be dragged around to different shops while Nathaniel did his Christmas shopping and she even got some of her own done. She bought a nice scarf for her mother and a funny pair of Christmas socks for her father, some red nail polish for Dominique, and some of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum for Louis, who loved to chew gum. For Kara and Brianna, she bought them each a tube of special glitter body lotion from Madam Primpernelle's. Her Secret Santa for this year was Hugo, so she bought him a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, knowing that Aunt Hermione didn't like to let her kids eat candy all that often.

After their morning shopping, they went to the Three Broomsticks for some lunch. Victoire thought about breaking up with him there, but she decided it would be best not to do it in such a public space. She didn't want him to feel embarrassed or anything. They ate their sandwiches in an awkward silence, having run out of conversation topics back at Tomes and Scrolls after Nathaniel had told Victoire about his mother's love of books. Looking out the window, Victoire saw Kara and Brianna laughing and entering Madam Primpernelle's and she was jealous that they were having so much fun without her.

By the end of the day, Victoire and Nathaniel returned to Hogwarts and still Victoire had said nothing. She returned to her dorm completely spent and at a loss as to how to proceed. She'd had the whole day to say something, and yet she'd chickened out. It was pathetic, and Caitlin wasted no time in telling her so when she overheard Victoire talking with Kara and Brianna later on.

"Put the poor guy out of his misery," Caitlin insisted. "It's cruel what you're doing to him. He's probably going to buy you a fantastic Christmas present and then you're going to break up with him right before he gives it to you, and then he's going to be stuck with it, always reminding him of what you did. Better to end it now, before he invests any more into this farce of a relationship."

As much as Victoire disliked her room mate, she knew she was right. It was basically what Brianna had said, only more direct and a lot meaner. But finding the right time and place in a castle full of students was difficult. She couldn't do it in the middle of the Great Hall, or in the library, because there were people there all the time. She obviously couldn't do it in class, and when they were in the common room, their friends were always around. Victoire was quickly discovering that Hogwarts offered absolutely _no_ privacy.

Finally, the day before Christmas holidays were to begin and they were all meant to return home on the train, Victoire decided it was time. She wouldn't let the whole two-week vacation go by with Nathaniel still thinking they were together.

"Hey, do you maybe want to go for a walk outside?" Victoire asked when their final class was over. They didn't have to do any homework, because they had the whole holiday stretched out ahead of them.

"It's cold out," Nathaniel pointed out. "You hate the cold."

"I brought my scarf," Victoire said, producing it from her bag. She'd come prepared. "Besides, I thought we might talk."

"You don't want to talk in the common room where there's a fireplace and blankets?" Nathaniel checked, frowning at this strange behavior.

"No, I want to talk alone," Victoire clarified.

"Okay then," Nathaniel agreed, letting Victoire lead them down the Grand Staircase to the Entrance Hall.

They reached the front doors and Nathaniel held them open, letting Victoire pass through before him. Victoire sighed. Nathaniel really was a nice guy. If only she was more interested in spending time with him...

"The weather's pretty nice for this time of year" Nathaniel commented, setting the pace as they passed through the Entrance Courtyard and down the covered bridge to the grounds.

"I guess so," Victoire shrugged. She wasn't partial to the cold that came with winter, and to her, once it got cold, it was all bad weather.

"The trees look really pretty with the snow on their branches," Nathaniel added, pointing to the Forbidden Forest.

"Yeah," Victoire agreed. She supposed they were nice, except for the fact that the trees were all dead until spring. Winter was such a dull and barren season.

"Was there something you wanted to talk about?" Nathaniel asked, sensing that Victoire had something on her mind. She clearly wasn't interested in the topics he was bringing up.

"I did actually," Victoire said nervously, the butterflies in her chest fluttering as she worked up the nerve to do what she came out here to do. "I don't exactly know how to say it…"

"You're breaking up with me," Nathaniel said simply, pausing and turning to face her.

"I – how did you - ?" Victoire gaped.

"I've just had a feeling," Nathaniel said. "I probably would have soon too if you hadn't. We simply don't have as much in common as I'd originally thought."

"Sure we do!" Victoire protested, unsure why she was protesting in the first place. This was what she'd wanted, wasn't it? "We're both in Gryffindor, we're both in third year… we both enjoy Herbology…"

Nathaniel shook his head. "See? You can't come up with anything else. It's just not enough."

"But we have such great times together," Victoire pointed out. "And you're a great help when we're doing homework."

"If I'm more useful to you as a peer tutor than as a boyfriend, then that should tell you there's something missing," Nathaniel said.

"But – "

"Look, you were right to want to break up," Nathaniel interrupted her. "I think both of us would be happier finding someone else."

"I don't – "

"Goodbye Victoire," Nathaniel interrupted again. "For what it's worth, I really enjoyed getting to know you."

He turned and left then, returning to the covered bridge and re-entering the castle. Victoire just stood in the snow, staring after him. What had just happened? She felt miserable. Her intention had always been to break up with Nathaniel, but when he did it instead… It wasn't that she wished they were still together, but to have him be the one to end it… Victoire was so confused. She didn't know why she felt this way. She should be glad it was over and happy to move forward, be able to spend time with her friends again. Instead, she just felt empty.

VvVvVvVvVvV

"Victoire?" Kara gasped when Victoire returned to the dorm two hours later. "Where have you been? What's wrong?"

Victoire was shivering and she looked frozen.

"Have you been outside this whole time?" Kara asked, knowing that Victoire's plan had been to take Nathaniel for a walk and break up with him then. "Nathaniel was back over an hour ago."

Victoire opened her mouth to talk, but all that came out was a lot of teeth-chattering.

"Oh, you must be freezing!" Kara cried, grabbing the blankets off Victoire's bed and wrapping them around her, pulling her over to sit with her and rubbing her arms to try and warm her friend up with heat from friction.

Soon, Victoire began to warm up and she stopped shivering. Pulling the blankets tighter, she leaned back against the headboard of the bed and closed her eyes.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Kara asked.

Victoire shrugged. "There's not much to talk about," she said.

"Did you break up with him?" Kara prodded.

Victoire shook her head.

"You didn't?" Kara asked, confused. "So then why – ?"

"He broke up with me," Victoire said. "I should be relieved. I mean it's over and I didn't even have to do it. But…"

"But it hurts," Kara said, understanding. "It hurts that he did it instead of you."

Victoire nodded.

"Oh sweetie," Kara said, reaching over to hug her friend. "I'm sorry."

Victoire accepted her friend's comfort, letting Kara fill her up with friendship to fill the hole left by Nathaniel's absence. Brianna arrived later, having been in a meeting with the Headmistress about promoting the healthy food trolley on the train – apparently the Headmistress refused to invest in advertising. Kara explained what had happened and while Brianna was less sympathetic than Kara, she was still understanding and tried to comfort Victoire as best she could.

Seeing Nathaniel in the Great Hall the next morning was difficult, but thankfully, he didn't try to talk to Victoire. She didn't think she could handle it if he had. Once they were on the train and safely ensconced in a compartment, Victoire didn't have to think about him.

"You don't even have to see him for two whole weeks," Kara pointed out.

"Hopefully by then I'll have stopped feeling like this," Victoire muttered.

The train ride back was spent trying to help Victoire forget about Nathaniel. They played exploding snap, and truth or dare. They ate food from both trolleys and Brianna shared some gossip she'd overheard. By the time the train pulled into King's Cross Station and Victoire said goodbye to her friends, she was in good spirits.

VvVvVvVvVvV

Victoire and her family were the first to arrive at the Burrow for Christmas Eve dinner that year. Victoire and her siblings gave their grandparents hugs and Victoire and Dominique were asked how it was going at Hogwarts. Victoire was surprised when Dominique told them about a tournament that had taken place in Defence Against the Dark Arts, which one of her best friends had almost won. Victoire hadn't even known the tournament was happening. When her grandparents turned to her, Victoire simply told them she was doing well in Herbology and that apart from that nothing much else was new.

"What about your boyfriend?" Dominique challenged her.

"You have a boyfriend?" her father asked, shocked. Dominique smirked.

Victoire sighed. "I do _not_ have a boyfriend," she assured them all.

"Yes you do," Dominique disagreed. "I see you hanging out with him _all_ the time."

"So I suppose Miles is your boyfriend then?" Victoire challenged. "I mean, you two are together _all the time_."

Dominique shot Victoire a look.

"That's what I thought," Victoire said. "Don't worry," she added, for the benefit of the adults in the room. "I definitely do not have a boyfriend."

"You'd better not," her father said crossing his arms. "Thirteen is much too young for that sort of thing."

"It is not!" Victoire protested. "I'm in my third year. I can go on Hogsmeade weekends. I can date if I want to."

Bill opened his mouth to say more, but Fleur shushed him. "Why don't you kids go on and play?" she suggested.

Eager to get away from the conversation at hand, Victoire led her siblings upstairs where the cousins would be gathering.

"Why did you lie about Nathaniel?" Dominique asked.

"Oh, so you know his name now too?" Victoire cried defensively. When Dominique didn't answer, Victoire sighed. "We broke up, okay? It's over."

"Oh," Dominique said. "I didn't know. Are you – ?"

"I'm fine," Victoire said shortly.

It wasn't long before the rest of the cousins started showing up. Soon they were only waiting on Teddy to start their annual game of hide-and-go-seek, and Molly wasn't having any of it.

"He can join in when he gets here," she declared, rattling off the rules again for anyone who might have forgotten – really for the benefit of the little kids. Albus volunteered to count first, and as he covered his eyes and began, everyone hurried to find hiding spots.

Victoire hadn't put much thought to where she was going to hide and ran down the stairs to the second floor, entering her Aunt Ginny's old room. She went to the closet first, but she was too big to be able to hide herself behind her aunt's old school robes. She tried to fit under the bed next, but she wasn't as small as she once was and couldn't fit there either. She was about to give up and simply cover herself with a blanket when she noticed something odd looking out the window.

It was Teddy. He was sitting outside under the same tree they'd sat under last Christmas, but all alone. Suddenly, Victoire was mad. Was he really so intent on avoiding her that he was going to isolate himself completely and not even play hide-and-go-seek? Angrily, she stomped out of Aunt Ginny's room and descended to the first floor, bypassing the living room where the adults were congregated and slipping outside. She approached Teddy in silence, so he didn't hear her coming.

"Hi Teddy," Victoire said.

"Victoire!" Teddy said in surprise, scrambling up. "I didn't hear you come over!"

"Here I am," Victoire said.

"I was actually just going inside – "

"No," Victoire said, blocking his path as he tried to leave. "No, this stops now."

"What?" Teddy asked, frowning.

"You're avoiding me," Victoire said. "You've been avoiding me for the past two months and I'm sick of it. Just tell me what I did."

Teddy took a step back. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said.

"So you're saying you haven't been leaving rooms whenever I enter, making excuses about places you have to be whenever I try to talk to you? Merlin, you're even sitting out here instead of playing hide-and-go-seek with the rest of us!"

"I'm fifteen," Teddy said. "I'm a little old to play hide-and-go-seek, don't you think?"

Victoire shook her head and turned to leave. "Whatever," she muttered. "I'm sorry I thought you might actually treat me like a person for once."

"Wait," Teddy cried, reaching out and grabbing Victoire's arm. "You're right. I've been acting like a jerk."

Victoire turned and crossed her arms. She was waiting for an apology and Teddy knew it.

"I'm sorry," he said. "You don't deserve to be ignored and it's not fair of me. Can we be friends again?"

"I don't know," Victoire said, unwilling to forgive him. "Am I going to get a reason for why you've been acting so mean?"

Teddy sighed and looked away. "I don't really know," he said eventually.

Victoire stared silently.

"Look, I really am sorry," Teddy assured her. "I guess I'm just dealing with some stuff and I took it out on you. It's not like I was mad at you or anything."

Victoire uncrossed her arms and her expression softened.

"Do you want to talk about any of it?" she asked.

Teddy clenched his jaw and turned away again. "Not really," he said.

Victoire considered him for a moment. "Alright then," she said, nodding. "So we're good?"

"Yeah," Teddy said. "We're good."

She started to walk away, but about halfway to the house, she felt bad and turned around. Teddy had sat down again and was staring out at the large expanse of land ahead. Something was bothering him. He may not want to talk about it, but he clearly needed a friend. Victoire turned and walked back over, sitting down in the grass next to him.

"You don't have to sit with me," Teddy said. "Go back to your game."

"It's just a dumb game anyway," Victoire shrugged.

"So how's Nathaniel?" Teddy asked, still staring ahead.

"We broke up," Victoire said.

"You did?" Teddy asked, his head snapping around to consider Victoire. "When?"

"The night before we left the castle," Victoire said, confused as his reaction.

"Are you alright?" Teddy asked, concern filling his face.

"I am now," Victoire replied. "I wasn't at first."

"What happened?" Teddy wondered.

"We just weren't right for each other," Victoire said. "We both knew it."

Teddy nodded, turning his head back again, looking out at the hills. "So what now?" he asked. "Are you going to go out with any of the other boys in your class?"

Victoire shook her head. "Not now," she said. "I mean I'm thirteen. I don't need to be in a relationship. I'm so young. I should be spending time with my friends and focusing on my classes. I can worry about boys when I'm older."

"Of course," Teddy agreed, nodding his head. "Yeah, you should just enjoy being with your friends."

"That still includes you, right?" Victoire asked, just to check.

"Of course," Teddy assured her.

The lapsed into silence then, simply sitting together, comfortable in the quiet.

"Victoire!" Molly's voice sounded. Victoire spun around to find her cousin leaning out an upstairs window. "What're you doing down there? That's against the rules!"

"I'm not playing!" Victoire called back.

"Well you should've told someone!" Molly screeched. "Albus has been looking for you forever!"

"Sorry!" Victoire called back, feeling bad.

Molly retreated and Victoire rolled her eyes. Molly could be so uptight sometimes about rules and things.

The rest of the evening was full of joy. Now that she and Teddy were speaking again, Victoire was in a far better mood than she had been previously. The annual Weasley Family Quidditch Match ended up being a three-on-three game; Aunt Angelina had a cold and wasn't up to flying, and Uncle Charlie was busy doing something with Grandfather Weasley in the old shed. The teams were divided so that it was Victoire's father, Uncle Harry, and Uncle Ron against Uncle George, Aunt Ginny, and Teddy. As usual, Victoire, along with all the cousins, rooted for Teddy's team.

Dinner came soon after the game ended and Victoire sat with Teddy at the end of the table. While the younger cousins threw food at each other, Teddy and Victoire caught up on what they'd missed in each other's lives over the time they hadn't been speaking.

After dinner, they had their Secret Santa exchange. Hugo loved the candy Victoire had bought him and Victoire was very happy when her brother's gift to her was to make her bed for her for the remainder of the holiday. Before they all left, Grandmother Weasley gave them all their new Weasley sweaters. This year, Victoire's was green with a red V on the front – very Christmas-y.

By the time everyone said goodbye and returned home, Victoire was happy. It had been a good Christmas.


	5. January

Chapter 5: January 2014

"Truth or dare?" Brianna asked. They had been back at Hogwarts for a week now and as usual, Victoire and her friends found themselves clustered in a corner of the common room playing one of their favorite games.

"Truth," Victoire chose.

"How many times did you and Nathaniel kiss before you broke up?" Brianna asked.

Victoire flushed. "Three," she muttered.

"Seriously?" Brianna asked, unconvinced. "You dated for practically two months!"

Victoire shrugged. "Kara, truth or dare?" she asked.

"Dare," Kara decided.

"I dare you to lend me those super cute earrings that are shaped like little hearts," Victoire declared.

"Done," Kara agreed. "You can wear them tomorrow."

"That's not a dare!" Brianna cried.

"Sure it is," Victoire disagreed. "Besides, I want to wear those earrings. They're adorable."

"But a dare has to be something difficult – something you don't want to do," Brianna complained.

"If it makes you feel any better, I was planning on wearing the earrings tomorrow," Kara offered.

"Victoire, truth or dare?" Brianna asked. "I'll show you what a real dare is."

"Truth," Victoire smirked.

Brianna huffed. "You're supposed to choose dare," she insisted.

"Fine then, dare," Victoire allowed.

"I dare you to… go up to that second year boy over there with the black hair and tell him you think he's cute," Brianna said.

Not wanting to appear weak in front of Brianna, Victoire carried out the dare without protest. The boy in question was sitting alone at a table doing what appeared to be his homework. Victoire sat next to him and they talked for a second. The boy blushed when she told him he was cute and she proudly returned to her friends.

"Done," she said triumphantly.

"Did he say anything?" Brianna asked.

Victoire shrugged. "Just 'thanks'," she said.

Brianna rolled her eyes. "Typical," she muttered.

Victoire wasn't entirely sure what Brianna meant by this, but chose not to ask. Brianna was in one of her moods, and Victoire didn't like bothering her when she was in one of her moods.

Alright Brianna, truth or dare?" Kara asked.

"Truth," Brianna decided. "You guys suck at giving dares."

"Hey, I gave a good dare that one time!" Kara protested. "I made Victoire go out after curfew."

"And she got caught," Brianna pointed out.

"Well that was hardly my fault," Kara crossed her arms.

Before Brianna could retort, Billy and Teddy came over and joined their circle.

"Hey girls," Billy said. "What's going on over here?"

"Just playing truth or dare," Victoire replied.

"Really?" Billy asked. "Truth or dare? That sounds pretty lame."

"Alright then Billy, truth or dare?" Brianna challenged.

"Dare," Billy declared, lifting his chin as if to show that he was better than the game.

"Hmm…" Brianna thought. "I dare you to kiss Kara."

Kara spluttered, but Billy wasted no time in leaning over and quickly pecking Kara on the lips.

"Brianna!" Kara cried when it was done. "That was hardly fair! Why'd you have to involve me?

"Your dare was inadequate," Brianna replied.

"Was not!" Victoire protested, feeling attacked as she had been the one to issue the dare.

"It was so and you know it," Brianna disagreed. "Teddy, you in? Truth or dare?"

Teddy had been relatively quiet up until this point. With all eyes on him, he looked around the group uncomfortably and then stood up. "Neither," he decided. "This game is lame. Come on Billy."

"Aww come on, I had a really good dare to get back at Brianna," Billy protested.

"Well I'm leaving," Teddy declared, disappearing up the stairs to the boys' dormitories.

Billy glanced back at the girls. "Sorry," he said, getting up to follow the other boy.

"What was that about?" Kara asked, she and Brianna both looking to Victoire for an explanation.

"Don't look at me," Victoire said, holding her hands up in front of her. "I certainly don't know what's going on with him."

VvVvVvVvVvV

In Care of Magical Creatures, the next day, Hagrid had a very special surprise for the third years. They had spent the first term studying flobberworms and horklumps and now they were ready to more onto some more dangerous creatures.

"Chizpurfles!" Hagrid announced proudly, unveiling a container filled with the little crab-like insects.

"Oh! Gross," Brianna wrinkled her nose upon seeing them. Victoire elbowed her in the side, telling her to be quiet and let their Professor speak.

"Now as you may know," Hagrid continued. "Chizpurfles are attracted to magical items. Wands mostly, because o' the concentration of magic inside them, but if there's no wands around, they'll go fer anythin' imbued with any sort o' magic. Whatever it is, they like to consume magic, so they'll try an' eat away at it. They also tend to find themselves crawling into cauldrons and licking up what's left of whatever potion was brewed in it last – a lot o' the time cauldrons don't get properly cleaned after all."

"What are we supposed to do with them?" Sara Pucey demanded, not bothering to raise her hand. People rarely raised their hands in Care of Magical Creatures class. At first, Victoire had been caught off guard by the nature of how the students were relating to their Professor, but she'd come to realize that it was just the way Professor Hagrid liked to teach. He even refused to teach inside the castle in a classroom, preferring instead to make them all trek down to the grounds, even when it was the middle of winter like it was now.

"Each o' you are going to receive a chizpurfle," Hagrid declared. "In a small jar o' course. You wouldn't want it getting' out an' eatin' yer wand or summat. Fer the next three weeks, you'll care for yer chizpurfles; you'll feed em' and give em' water and make sure they're happy."

"Oh my God, seriously?" Brianna muttered. "We have to keep them as pets? They're so gross!"

"It'll be in a jar," Victoire assured her. "It's not like it's going to be sharing your bed."

"Oh eww!" Brianna exclaimed. "Don't put those ideas in my head!"

The students lined up and Hagrid gave them each a jar to capture their chosen chizpurfle.

"Who knows what chizpurfles eat?" Hagrid asked.

"Magic?" May Enlow volunteered.

"Apart from that," Hagrid amended. "Something that you can feed them throughout the next few weeks."

This was met with silence.

"Nobody?" Hagrid asked.

"In _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ , it doesn't talk about how to feed them," Arnold Rosen said. "It talks about how to kill them. Which is exactly what we should do."

"Well as this is _Care_ o' Magical Creatures class and not _Kill_ o' Magical Creatures class, we'll do things this way," Hagrid replied a little angrily. That was the other thing Victoire had learned. With Professor Hagrid, never joke about killing creatures – even the ones that were considered dangerous by the Ministry.

"Could we feed them crumbs from our own food?" Joe Sanders asked.

"Good guess, but no," Hagrid replied. "Apart from magic, chizpurfles eat grass and leaves and other things that grow."

"Where are we supposed to find any of that in the middle of winter?" Frederick Edgecombe asked.

"A good question," Hagrid said. "This is why chizpurfle infestations become worse during the winter months – because their natural source o' food is gone and magic is the only thing left to eat. Luckily for you lot, I planned ahead and I have bags o' leaves and grass that I collected before it started snowing."

He revealed a box filled with bags of grass and leaves and instructed everyone to take a bag.

"These bags have to last the whole three weeks mind," Hagrid warned. "So don't go feeding the chizpurfles all of it at once."

VvVvVvVvVvV

"This is completely ridiculous," Brianna muttered when class was over and they were returning to the castle with their chizpurfles. "You don't care for a chizpurfle, you kill them like ants or termites. They're household pests. We ought to call the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures right now."

"Oh give it a rest," Victoire insisted. "They're in jars, they're not crawling around in the bottoms of our cauldrons gorging on leftover drops of potion."

"It's unnatural," Brianna insisted.

"I think they're cute," Kara spoke up, holding her jar up to eye level to look at her chizpurfle.

"You would," Brianna muttered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kara demanded.

"Nothing," Brianna shrugged, backing off.

VvVvVvVvVvV

"Look at my chizpurfle!" Victoire announced later, finding Teddy alone in the library.

"Why are you carrying a chizpurfle around in a jar?" Teddy asked, looking up from his rune translation.

"It's an assignment," Victoire explained.

"For Hagrid?" Teddy asked, understanding.

Victoire nodded. "So listen, I know we talked at Christmas and everything was good, but yesterday you were acting weird and I just wanted to see if you were really alright. Is something bothering you?"

Teddy sighed. "It's just, you know, O.W.L. year and all. There's so much work to do and it's all really stressful and the Professors are all expecting me to prioritize their class, but it's not like I can prioritize every class."

"Of course!" Victoire cried, having almost forgotten Teddy was in his fifth year. "I forgot you were dealing with the O.W.L.s. Of course you'd be stressed out."

Teddy shrugged. "Yeah, well I mean it's not always bad, but – "

"No, I completely understand. It's got to be a lot of work. I'm only in third year, but with the two extra classes from last year I already feel stretched. Obviously it would be worse for you. Do you want me to let you study?"

"NO!" Teddy cried, probably louder than he needed to. "Sorry, I mean no… I don't mind having some company for a bit."

"Well alright then," Victoire agreed, sitting back in her chair.

"So you're babysitting a chizpurfle?" Teddy asked, returning to the original topic of conversation.

"I am," Victoire agreed. "For three weeks."

"Three weeks?" Teddy cried. "Isn't that a long time to carry an insect around in a jar?"

"Apparently you need three weeks to properly bond," Victoire quoted her Professor from earlier. "Of course, personally, I think if the goal is to bond, it's pretty cruel to then take it away."

"You know, I'm sure if someone really bonded with the chizpurfle, Hagrid would let them keep it," Teddy said.

Victoire laughed. "Probably," she agreed. "Good thing it's not going to happen."

"It could happen," Teddy defended. "You could form a really strong attachment and not be able to part with it."

Victoire rolled her eyes. "We'll see about that."

Over the next three weeks, the third years took their chizpurfles with them everywhere they went. They brought them to class, to the Great Hall, where they would place them on the bench next to them so as not to have to look at them while they ate. They brought them to the library, much to Madam Maxwell's annoyance, and they brought them back to their dorms at the end of each day. When the three weeks were over, everybody was eager to see the chizpurfles go.

"Last night," Brianna said gleefully as she quickly removed the lid of her jar and threw in the last of the grass from the bag she'd received from Hagrid. "Finally! I can't wait to be rid of these things."

"I think I might miss him," Kara said as she also fed hers. "I mean, for three weeks, I've gone everywhere with him."

"Please don't say that," Victoire pleaded. "Teddy will think he was right and he wasn't."

"Right about what?" Kara asked.

"He said he thought we were going to end up attached to them and not want to part with them," Victoire replied.

"Oh, don't worry," Kara assured her. "I definitely don't want to keep him."

"The fact that you refer to it as 'him' disturbs me," Brianna said. "I'm going to the bathroom."

Brianna left for the bathroom just as Raina and Caitlin returned to the dorm.

"You still have those things?" Caitlin demanded, wrinkling her nose. She wasn't taking Care of Magical Creatures and couldn't understand why those who were had consented to carrying insects around with them everywhere they went.

"Last night, we promise," Kara told her. "We give them back in the morning."

"Thank Merlin!" Caitlin said, pulling her robe over her head and tossing it in the direction of her bed. Unfortunately, she overshot and the robe sailed over her bed and landed on top of Brianna's sidetable, on top of which the jar containing her chizpurfle was sitting. The jar toppled precariously and in a panic, Victoire dove for it. She didn't make it in time though, because the jar fell and shattered on the floor and the chizpurfle scuttled out.

"Grab your wands!" Victoire cried in a panic, running for hers. If they weren't careful, the chizpurfle would gnaw through the wood of their wands to consume the magical core. "Get up on the beds!"

All four girls scrambled to grab their wands and climb up onto their beds to keep away from the chizpurfle.

"Where is it?" Kara whispered.

"You don't have to whisper," Victoire pointed out. "It's not like it doesn't know we're here."

"I wish I knew where it was," Kara muttered.

"Knew where what was?" Brianna asked, re-entering the room. "What are you all doing?" she frowned.

"Brianna, get up on Kara's bed!" Victoire cried. "There's a chizpurfle loose!"

"What?" Brianna cried, almost knocking Kara off the bed in an attempt to climb on herself. "How?"

"Caitlin knocked your jar off the side table," Kara explained. "It shattered and your chizpurfle got out."

"So this is all your fault!" Brianna snarled, looking in Caitlin's direction.

"It is not!" Caitlin protested. "If you didn't keep the thing right on the edge of the table, this wouldn't have happened. If there'd been the tiniest movement, it would have fallen."

"Guys!" Raina cried. "Shouldn't we focus on _finding_ the chizpurfle before we start arguing?"

"Good idea," Kara agreed. "How should we catch it?"

"First we need something to catch it _in_ ," Victoire pointed out.

"We can use one of our jars," Kara said. "Here, pass me yours and I'll put your chizpurfle in with mine."

Victoire did as instructed and while Kara opened the jars to make the transfer, Brianna jumped over to Victoire's bed, not wanting to be that close to Kara if the transfer went awry. Thankfully, it went smoothly and Kara tossed back Victoire's now empty jar while carefully placing the jar with two chizpurfles on her pillow where it couldn't fall and shatter.

"Now what?" Caitlin asked in dismay. "How do we catch it? You guys are the supposed experts."

"Well they're attracted to magic," Raina said. "Mainly to wands. What if one of us put our wand out on the ground and waited for it to come and then trapped it in the jar?"

"That could work," Victoire agreed. "But who's wand do we use?"

"Well this is Brianna's chizpurfle…" Raina said slowly.

"It's not my fault he's loose!" Brianna cried. "Caitlin's the one who loosed it!"

"I'm not even a part of this project!" Caitlin cried. "You can't use my wand!"

"Here, use mine," Kara said, rolling her eyes and tossing it towards Victoire so she could put it down. "Just be careful not to let it eat any of it."

"I'll do my best," Victoire promised, laying down on her stomach across the bed and placing Kara's wand on the floor. She waited for a moment, the jar poised above the wand to catch the insect as soon as it showed itself.

"It's not coming," Caitlin pointed out when nothing happened.

"Just give it a second," Raina insisted. "Maybe it's shy."

"Oh sure," Caitlin rolled her eyes. "Clearly it's left the room. It's probably upstairs terrorizing first years or something."

"There!" Brianna cried suddenly, pointing as the tiny insect ran out from under Raina's bed and crossed the room, making its way to Kara's wand.

"Come on little chizpurfle," Victoire coaxed as it approached. "Come here…. And…. Gotcha!" she cried, slamming the jar down over it. With the chizpurfle safely trapped, the girls climbed down from the beds and Victoire grabbed a piece of spare parchment to slide under the jar so she could pick it up and flip it over. Then she quickly removed the parchment while Kara screwed the lid back onto it.

"Here you go," Victoire said, holding the jar out to Brianna.

"I'm not taking that thing back!" Brianna cried. "You keep it. Kara's got yours anyway."

Victoire rolled her eyes. The end of this project could not come sooner.

VvVvVvVvVvV

The next morning, the third years trooped down to the grounds with their jars, eager to return the chizpurfles.

"What happened here girls?" Hagrid asked when he saw the two chizpurfles in the same jar.

"There was a mishap," Kara explained. "One of the chizpurfles got out and its jar got broken. We caught it, but we were a jar short, so two of them had to share."

"Well as long as you caught it," Hagrid shrugged as they dropped the jars back into the large box. "Couldn't imagine Headmistress McGonagall would be all that happy if there were chizpurfles running around the school."

"But she okayed the project, right?" Brianna frowned.

Hagrid tilted his head, apparently confused. "What d'you mean?" he asked. "I don't have to ask permission to do projects. I jus' do 'em."

Victoire and her friends exchanged a look but let the subject drop. Hagrid laughed and shook his head, apparently baffled by the thought of running his crazy ideas past his boss.

VvVvVvVvVvV

"So no more chizpurfles?" Teddy asked that night as he and Billy played exploding snap with the girls.

"No more chizpurfles," Victoire confirmed. "They are back where they belong."

"And by that you mean…?"

"In a box in Hagrid's hut probably," Victoire confirmed. "Merlin knows what he's got planned for them."

"If he had any sense he'd hand them over to the DRCMC," Billy said.

"This is Hagrid we're talking about," Brianna pointed out. "Sense isn't something he possesses."

"Hey!" Teddy protested. "Don't talk about Hagrid like that. He's a good guy."

"That's Uncle Harry's influence talking," Victoire commented. "But you're right, we shouldn't be mean."

"Hey Teddy," a new voice said. "Ready for rounds?"

Victoire looked up to find that the female fifth year prefect – she could never remember her name – was standing behind Teddy, waiting for him.

"Oh right," Teddy said, shaking his head. "I forgot we were on duty tonight."

The girl smiled. "We'd better get started, it's almost curfew."

Teddy said a quick goodbye, adding that they shouldn't wait up for him because he'd probably be a while completing his rounds.

"That's strange," Kara commented when he was gone. "He doesn't usually take too long when he's on patrol. It usually only takes about an hour, unless there's someone out after hours to deal with."

Billy shrugged. "Maybe they're doing double rounds tonight," he suggested. "Sometimes they do that."

"Oh no!" Victoire cried, noticing that Teddy forgot his wand. "He might need that! I'd better go after him." She grabbed the wand and started to rise.

"Oh, here, give it to me, I'll go after him," Billy said, standing and reaching for the wand.

Victoire held it away. "I don't mind, I'll go," she said with a frown. Why didn't Billy want her to go?

"It's after curfew, if you get caught you'll get in trouble," Billy said.

"I'm bringing Teddy his wand," Victoire pointed out. "I doubt he'll dock me points."

"What if someone else sees you?" Billy asked.

"Well the sooner I leave, the closer they'll be and the less likely that would happen," Victoire said, backing away. "Don't worry, I'll be right back."

Not bothering to listen to Billy's next protest, Victoire climbed out the portrait hole and started down the hallway heading for the Grand Staircase, knowing that Teddy always began his rounds at the Great Hall.

She rounded the corner and suddenly found herself face to face with a sight she'd never expected. Right there, in the middle of the empty corridor, Teddy and the female prefect were kissing.

"Oh!" Victoire cried, catching their attention and causing them to break apart. "I'm sorry. I – " She turned around to leave and then remembered why she was even there in the first place. "Your wand," she muttered, tossing it to Teddy and then returning the way she'd come.


	6. February

Chapter 6: February 2014

"I hate her," Victoire cried.

She and her friends were sitting in a corner of the common room playing a game of exploding snap while Teddy and Beverly Longman, the female fifth year prefect, made out on a couch across the room.

"Why do you even care?" Brianna demanded.

"I don't," Victoire frowned. "It's just, why do they have to be so public about it?"

"Just don't look," Brianna insisted.

"Teddy's such a hypocrite," Victoire continued, as though she hadn't heard Brianna. "First he yells at me for kissing Nathaniel in an _empty_ common room, and now he's practically glued to her in plain sight of the entire population of Gryffindor Tower."

"And I repeat, who cares?" Brianna said, exasperated. "Lots of upperclassmen make out in the common room, we see it all the time. This isn't anything new."

"She thinks she's so perfect with her perfect straight brown hair and her little prefect's badge pinned to her robes," Victoire sniffed. "I could be a prefect one day if I wanted to."

"Great," Brianna said, rolling her eyes. "Can we play now?"

"If they're going to do that, why don't they find an abandoned classroom or something?" Victoire demanded. "Why do the rest of us have to sit around and watch them?"

"If you would stop staring at them, you wouldn't have to watch them," Brianna said.

"Come on Victoire, this is getting ridiculous. Would you rather go play upstairs?" Kara offered.

"What?" Victoire asked, snapping out of whatever trance she'd been in. "No, I'm fine. I don't care. They can do whatever they want. It's a free country."

"So can we play then?" Brianna requested.

"Of course," Victoire said, turning her back on Teddy and Beverly.

Kara dealt the cards and they began a new round – Victoire had stopped paying attention halfway through the last round, so it hadn't really counted when the cards had exploded.

"So we're going to be brewing our first overnight potion tomorrow," Kara commented as they played. "That should be interesting."

"Honestly, I'm a little nervous," Victoire admitted. "What if something goes wrong overnight and it's completely ruined?"

"Victoire, you have nothing to worry about, you're great at potions," Kara assured her. "Meanwhile I just know I'm going to botch it."

"Hey girls," a voice that could only belong to Teddy said.

Victoire spun around to find that it was indeed Teddy, plopping himself down in their little circle.

"What are you doing?" Victoire demanded.

Teddy frowned. "I just thought I'd come say hello…" he said, now a little unsure.

"What about Beverly?" Victoire wondered. "Won't she be lonely?"

"Oh well she has rounds tonight and I don't so she had to head out," Teddy shrugged.

"Oh, that must be just awful for the two of you," Victoire said sarcastically. "Having to be apart for so long."

"I don't – "

"Well we were actually about to turn in ourselves," Victoire interrupted. "Right girls?" She raised her eyebrows at her friends, indicating that they had better agree with her.

"Oh, yeah," Kara confirmed, faking a yawn. "We're exhausted."

"Early morning tomorrow," Brianna agreed.

"Oh," Teddy said, looking a little disappointed. "Well that's too bad. I was hoping we could hang out a bit."

"So basically you just wanted to use us until your girlfriend got back?" Victoire demanded.

"It's not – "

"Goodnight Teddy," Victoire interrupted again, standing up and leading her friends up the stairs to the dormitory.

When they arrived in their dorm, Victoire huffed and flopped onto her bed in frustration.

"Victoire, are you – "

"I'm fine," Victoire said, not letting Kara complete her question. "I'm just tired. Besides, we have to start brewing the girding potion tomorrow, so I need to be well rested."

"It's only nine o'clock," Brianna pointed out. "You're really going to bed now?"

"Whatever Brianna," Victoire said, a little meanly as she pulled the curtains of her four-poster bed shut.

She hadn't meant to be rude. Victoire was just so confused these days. It had all started back in January when she'd caught Teddy and Beverly kissing in the hallway. At first she'd thought her reaction was just the shock of seeing something so unexpected, but when she continued to catch them kissing around the school and she continued to feel the same jolt in her gut, she started to wonder if there was something more going on.

She couldn't understand why she cared so much. Teddy was her friend and she was glad he was happy – even if it was with someone as irritating as Beverly Longman. Of course, Victoire couldn't understand why he even liked her, because she wasn't really all that pretty when you really looked at her, but that should matter. Why should she care who Teddy liked? It didn't make a difference to her.

And yet, despite it all, deep down, Victoire knew she did care. She just didn't know why. Maybe she was upset that Teddy was spending less time with her now that he had a girlfriend. Ever since she'd started at Hogwarts, Teddy had always been around, as both a mentor and a friend. Anytime she'd needed anything, he'd been available. Now Victoire had to share him with someone else. She was jealous, Victoire realized. She was jealous that Teddy now had someone else in his life and couldn't be around for her as much.

With this newfound realization, Victoire found that she wasn't any happier now than she had been before. After all, there was nothing she could do. Teddy was going to date and have girlfriends and make out in the common room. It was just a fact of life. One day she too would have a boyfriend and maybe then things wouldn't be so hard, but until then she would just have to live with the fact that she wasn't Teddy's number one priority anymore.

VvVvVvVvVvV

The following morning, as the third years filed into the potions classroom, Victoire was both eager and nervous to attempt to brew the girding potion.

"Alright students, settle down," Professor Abbott-Longbottom called out. "I know you're all very excited to get started, and the sooner you all take your seats the sooner we can begin."

"So does that mean if we don't take our seats, we don't have to do the assignment at all?" Brianna joked under her breath.

"Alright, so today as you are all aware, we will be brewing the first half of the girding potion," their Professor announced. "The after-hours potions lab has been reserved for you to store your potions overnight and check on them throughout the day if you so wish. Also, remember that the second round of doxy eggs must be added between the fifth and fifteenth hour of simmering, so be sure to visit the lab sometime later today or tonight and be sure to complete that step."

"Couldn't we just add it before we leave?" Brianna muttered.

"No!" Victoire hissed. "Then your potion won't increase endurance like it's supposed to. In fact, it might actually decrease it."

"Finally," their Professor continued. "I've decided that I will be pairing you all off."

This announcement was met with a round of groans. Whenever their Professors tried to pair them or put them in groups, they always ended up with terrible partners.

"I have placed the names of all the boys in the class in this hat," Professor Abbott-Longbottom announced, holding up an upside down wizard's hat. "All the girls in the class will draw a name and whoever you draw will be your partner."

Victoire sighed. "And as usual, there's no chance any of us get to be paired together," she grumbled.

"Of course not," Kara shook her head. "Because that would just be too convenient."

Professor Abbott-Longbottom began circulating the room, allowing each girl in the class to pull a ripped piece of parchment from the hat and read out the name of their partner.

"Stanley Towler," Sara Pucey called out.

"Jonathon Cadwallader," Ellie Sawbridge declared.

"Eli Bowman," Naomi Pullman announced.

Since Victoire and her friends were sitting near the back, they would be the last to pull names.

"We're going to get stuck with the awful ones," Brianna muttered unhappily.

"Not necessarily," Victoire disagreed. "The draw is totally random. Someone good could still be left by the end."

"Fat chance," Brianna rolled her eyes.

When Caitlin pulled Adrian's name and announced it with a huge smile, Victoire and her friends rolled their eyes. How was it fair that they had gotten paired together? They were already practically inseparable.

Finally, Professor Abbott-Longbottom arrived at the back. Kara pulled first, drawing Joe Sanders from Hufflepuff.

"Not awful," Brianna whispered so that their Professor wouldn't hear.

"Your turn Brianna," their Professor prompted, shaking the hat under her nose.

Brianna reached in and pulled out her parchment scrap. "Arnold Rosen." She announced with a grimace. "Great, I get the guy that still picks his nose," she muttered.

Victoire glanced around the room, and with a sinking feeling, reached into the hat. She was the last person to draw a name, and in looking around the room, she knew who's name she was going to get. She felt around and grabbed the last scrap of parchment, pulling it out slowly and closing her eyes as she turned it over, almost willing it to have any other name printed on it. Unfortunately, nothing she could do would save her from her fate.

"Nathaniel Peterson," she announced, staring straight down at the parchment, unwilling to even make eye contact with her new potions partner.

"Bad luck there," Kara muttered apologetically as everyone started moving around the room to sit by their partners. Victoire refused to get up, and instead allowed Nathaniel to come to the back where she was sitting.

"Hey," Nathaniel greeted her as he sat down next to her.

Summoning all her courage, Victoire raised her head and turned to face him. "Hey," she said.

"So I guess we're going to be working together for a bit," Nathaniel said, nodding his head awkwardly.

"Yeah, looks like it," Victoire shrugged.

Nathaniel sighed. "Can this not be awkward?" he asked. "I don't want this to be weird."

Victoire breathed in relief. "I would like that," she agreed. "Let's just be classmates and potions partners and nothing else."

"Perfect," Nathaniel smiled. "I'll go get the ingredients if you want to start boiling the water."

"Great!" Victoire agreed, much more at ease now that they had agreed not to let their past interfere with their project.

While Nathaniel was gone, Victoire set up her cauldron and poured in the required eight cups of water. Then she started a fire underneath and adjusted the intensity until she was satisfied.

"Here we go," Nathaniel announced, returning with an armload of stuff. "We've got fairy wings, doxy eggs, dragonfly thoraxes, fluxweed, dried nettles, and one large green caterpillar."

"Please do me a favor and keep that caterpillar away from me," Victoire pleaded.

Nathaniel laughed and carefully placed the caterpillar in his mortar.

"Do you want to start by grinding the fairy wings or toasting the dragonfly thoraxes?" Nathaniel asked, offering Victoire the choice.

"I think I'll take the fairy wings," Victoire volunteered. "You can knock yourself out with those dragonfly thoraxes. Besides, your mortar's a little busy at the moment."

Carefully, Victoire measured out one pair of fairy wings and dropped them into her mortar. Then she grabbed her pestle and carefully started working them into a powder. Meanwhile, Nathaniel skewered one of the dragonfly thoraxes and held it up to the flame as if he were roasting a marshmallow.

"Okay, the fairy wings are ready," Victoire announced. "I'm going to add them."

"Make sure to stir them in before you turn up the heat," Nathaniel reminded her.

"Right," Victoire nodded, grabbing her glass stirring rod and inserting it into the potion. She stirred counterclockwise until the powder had all dissolved and then grabbed her wand and raised the heat of the fire.

"Alright, now as soon as it turns turquoise, be sure to add the doxy eggs," Nathaniel added, pulling his skewer back and switching to a second dragonfly thorax now that the first was sufficiently toasted.

"It's turning lime green," Victoire noted.

"Good, it's almost there," Nathaniel grinned. "Get ready now."

Victoire grabbed the doxy eggs and held them over the cauldron, waiting intently for the color to turn turquoise. As soon as it did, she dropped them in and immediately reduced the heat to let it simmer for a few minutes.

"Perfect," Nathaniel smiled, taking a peek. He switched to a third dragonfly thorax while they waited for the potion to turn pink. "You're a natural at this," he said.

"You're doing pretty well yourself," Victoire returned.

"All I'm doing is toasting a few dragonfly thoraxes," Nathaniel pointed out. "Even a troll could manage this."

"No, I think a troll would probably burn them," Victoire laughed.

"Well my point is, this isn't the most difficult job," Nathaniel clarified.

"Oh just you wait until we get to that caterpillar," Victoire warned. "That's all on you."

"You know, if you never handle the caterpillar, how do you expect to do well on your final exam? What if you have to brew a girding potion?" Nathaniel asked.

"I won't," Victoire shrugged. "It takes two days to brew. In the exam, they'll choose potions we can brew in one sitting."

"Good point," Nathaniel allowed. "Oh look, it's turning pink!"

Nathaniel grabbed his three dragonfly thoraxes and tossed them in, taking Victoire's stirring rod and giving the potion a few clockwise stirs.

"Alright, what's next?" he asked, turning to Victoire.

"Now we add the dried nettles," Victoire read from the instructions. "And we'll need to grind up the fluxweed because we're adding that next."

"Wait, when are we adding the caterpillar?" Nathaniel asked with a frown.

"Oh right!" Victoire cried. "We add the caterpillar before the fluxweed. Do you want to start grinding that up? I'll throw in the nettles and grind up the fluxweed."

The two worked well together, and by the time they added their second set of fairy wings, the potion was settling at a lovely red color.

"Looks good," Nathaniel observed.

"Very nice indeed," Professor Abbott-Longbottom commented, walking past. "You look like you're ready to transfer to the after-hours lab for simmering. Now be careful while you move your potion, because you need to keep the heat on it at all times."

"How are we supposed to do that?" Nathaniel wondered.

"One of you will have to levitate the cauldron down the hall while the other continually casts incendio on it until you have it at a station where you can start a permanent fire," Professor Abbott-Longbottom informed them.

"Wouldn't it have made more sense to just brew the potions in the after-hours lab from the beginning?" Victoire wondered.

"Sometime you may need to move a potion and I want you all to be prepared for such a day," Professor Abbott-Longbottom said. "This is good practice."

"You want to levitate or cast incendio?" Nathaniel wondered.

Victoire hesitated. "I'm not really the best at Charms," she admitted.

"Alright, how about I levitate then?" Nathaniel suggested. "Mine requires more precision. All you have to do is keep it warm."

"Okay," Victoire agreed.

Thankfully, they were near the back of the classroom, so they were able to get out the door without too much of a problem. They were also one of the first groups to finish, so the corridor was clear of students, giving them a clear path to the after-hours lab. They arrived without incident and set their potion up in the back corner right by the door, starting a fire underneath it and adjusting it to a light simmer.

"What do you say we stop by after dinner to add those doxy eggs?" Nathaniel suggested before they left for their next class.

"Sure," Victoire agreed. "Sounds good."

VvVvVvVvVvV

"Was it horrible?" Brianna asked later as they walked to their second class of the day.

"No, it was actually alright," Victoire said, surprising even herself. "We got along great and neither of us brought up anything from first term."

"I couldn't have done it," Kara declared. "I'd have been a complete mess if I were you."

Victoire shrugged. "He's actually a really nice guy," she said. "It's too bad we had nothing in common…"

VvVvVvVvVvV

After dinner, Victoire met up with Nathaniel in the Entrance Hall so that they could head down to the dungeons to check on their potion.

"Do you have the doxy eggs?" Victoire asked. Nathaniel had been in charge of making sure to procure some before Professor Abbott-Longbottom locked the classroom. Though the after-hours potions lab had many things, it didn't have unlimited potions ingredients – something about not wanting students to have access to things they could use to make anything disastrous.

"Got them right here," Nathaniel confirmed, gesturing to his bag.

They arrived in the potions lab and there was only one other pair there; Caitlin and Adrian.

"Hey guys," Nathaniel greeted them.

"Oh hey," Adrian nodded. "We were just finishing up here. We're thinking of getting in some practice before curfew. Got to train hard if we're going to make the team next year."

"Well good luck guys," Nathaniel said as they packed up their stuff and headed out.

"Our potion's looking pretty good," Victoire noted, peering into her cauldron. "It's still that nice deep red color from before, so we know it's doing what it's supposed to."

"Let's just hope this does what it's supposed to do," Nathaniel said, producing the doxy eggs and dropping them in.

When the potion didn't immediately turn blue, Victoire was worried, but Nathaniel assured her that it would take a few minutes for the doxy eggs to take effect.

"So what do we do now?" Victoire wondered.

"You could stir it you want," Nathaniel offered. "The recipe says that stirring helps."

"Which direction?" Victoire asked.

"Counter-clockwise," Nathaniel clarified.

Victoire reached in for her stirring rod – which they'd left inside the cauldron, knowing they'd need to stir more tomorrow anyway – and began to stir slowly.

"Listen Victoire, I just wanted to say…" Nathaniel began hesitantly.

Victoire glanced up and swallowed, nervous about what Nathaniel was about to say.

"Well I just wanted to say that I'm glad for the time we had together," he said. "Even though it didn't work out, we had some good times and I wouldn't change that for the world."

Victoire smiled. "Thanks," she said. "We did have fun together. And for a first boyfriend, you were a pretty good one."

"Thanks," Nathaniel smiled back. "Oh hey look, the potion's turning blue! It worked!"

"Yay!" Victoire exclaimed. "So I guess that's it?"

"That's it," Nathaniel agreed. "Until tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow," Victoire nodded, grabbing her stuff and disappearing.

VvVvVvVvVvV

The following day, they finished the potion, adding a few more dragon thoraxes, some more dried nettles, and three flying seahorses. Nathaniel finished it off with a confundus charm and Professor Abbott-Longbottom awarded them at _Outstanding_.

"I heard you brewed the girding potion," Teddy said, inserting himself at the Gryffindor Table across from Victoire later that evening at dinner.

"Who told you that?" Victoire asked.

"I had to clear my stuff out of the after-hours potion lab overnight to make room for the third years," Teddy explained.

"You regularly have stuff in the after-hours lab?" Brianna frowned.

"I am in my O.W.L. year," Teddy reminded her. "And I haven't brewed a shrinking solution since third year. I haven't brewed a forgetfulness potion since first year!"

"Forgetfulness potion is so easy," Brianna scoffed.

"Easy to forget," Teddy added. "Especially once you start getting bombarded with information from every teacher. O.W.L. year is tough."

"Well sorry you had to take a night off in your studying," Victoire said stiffly. "The project is done now, so you can have your after-hours lab back now."

"That's not what I – "

"I'm not hungry," Victoire muttered, pushing her plate away. "I'm going for a walk."

"Do you want some company?" Teddy offered.

"No," Victoire said, not even looking at Teddy. "I'd rather be alone."

Victoire left then and began wandering around the castle. She was still so confused. She'd thought she'd had an epiphany that night when she'd realized why she was so upset that Teddy was dating Beverly. So why was she so mad at Teddy? She should be taking advantage of the time he wanted to spend with her, but instead, every time she saw him all she could feel was anger and hurt. What was wrong with her? Why couldn't she just be happy for her friend?


	7. March

Chapter 7: March 2014

"Truth or dare?" Brianna asked Kara one day in March as the three girls sat in the common room.

"Truth," Kara decided.

"Alright," Brianna said. "On a scale of one to ten, how pretty do you think Victoire is?"

"A ten obviously," Kara said immediately. "Victoire's gorgeous."

"That's not fair," Brianna frowned. "Ten is like, absolute perfection. You have to be totally honest, those are the rules."

"Okay fine, then a nine," Kara amended. "But I'm not going any lower than that."

"Because you honestly think that, or because you're afraid of hurting Victoire's feelings?" Brianna asked.

"Because I honestly think it!" Kara cried, offended.

"Why Bri?" Victoire asked. "Where would you rank me?"

"This wasn't my truth," Brianna pointed out.

"Fine, truth or dare?" Victoire demanded.

"Dare," Brianna decided. Victoire gave her a look. "Alright fine, truth."

"On a scale of one to ten, how pretty do you think I am?" Victoire asked.

"Brianna shrugged. "A seven point eight," she decided.

Victoire frowned. "Really?" she asked. "A seven point eight? That's pretty specific."

Brianna nodded. "You started at ten, but every time you frown, you create wrinkles. I've deducted point one of a point for every time I've caught you frowning for an extended period of time."

"I don't frown!" Victoire cried indignantly.

"Yeah, actually, you do," Kara disagreed. "A lot recently."

"Name one time," Victoire demanded.

"Five minutes ago, when Teddy and Beverly came into the common room and kissed before going to their separate dorms," Brianna said.

Victoire crossed her arms. "I did not frown," she muttered.

"Sorry but yeah, you did," Kara said apologetically.

"Alright Victoire, truth or dare?" Brianna asked.

"Truth," Victoire decided.

"Okay, why are you so obsessed with Teddy and Beverly Longman?" Brianna demanded.

Victoire frowned. "I am not obsessed."

"See?" Kara cried. "You're frowning again!"

"I am not!" Victoire insisted, forcing her face to relax. "See? I have a totally normal expression."

Brianna rolled her eyes. "Answer the truth," she said.

"I already did," Victoire claimed. "I told you that I'm not obsessed."

"Well that was obviously a lie and not in the spirit of truth or dare," Brianna pointed out. "Come on, we answer all your truths honestly."

Victoire suddenly felt attacked. "I don't know what you expect me to say," she said, her eyes stinging as she spoke. "I told you I don't care, so why do you keep asking?"

"If that was the truth, I wouldn't keep asking," Brianna said.

"You know what?" Victoire said, jumping up. "There are certain topics that I never bring up when we play truth or dare. I never ask you personal questions about your father or your family, because I know it's a really sensitive subject for you. And we don't ask Kara why she visits the hospital wing once a month, because obviously she has some sort of medical thing going on that she doesn't want to share with us. So how come, when it's so obvious this isn't a conversation I want to be having, do you insist on forcing me to keep talking about it?"

"I – "

"Whatever Brianna," Victoire cried, not even wanting to listen to anything her friend might have to say.

She turned and fled up the stairs to her dorm where she immediately crawled into her bed and drew the curtains around her to indicate to Raina and Caitlin that she didn't feel like talking. Suddenly, tears started to pour from her eyes, and Victoire wasn't sure whether they were because of the awkward conversation about Teddy and Beverly, or whether they were from her yelling at Brianna.

"Victoire?" a soft voice asked a couple of minutes later. "Victoire can I come in?"

Victoire didn't respond.

"Victoire please let me talk to you," Kara pleaded.

Victoire sighed. "Fine," she decided. "Come on in."

A hand appeared and parted the curtains enough so that Kara could slip onto the bed, and then the curtains fell back to their closed position.

Victoire pulled her knees up to her chin and leaned back against the headboard.

"So," Kara began.

"So," Victoire repeated.

"You know about the hospital wing," Kara said unexpectedly.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry I brought that up," Victoire said, immediately feeling guilty. She hadn't meant to throw Kara under the bus. It was Brianna she'd been mad at.

"No it's fine," Kara said. "It's good to know that you know."

"Did you want to talk – "

"No," Kara shook her head. "I really don't. It's not a big deal or anything though."

"Okay," Victoire shrugged, understanding her friend's need not to have her butting into her business.

"I'm sorry Brianna pushed you," Kara said. "And I'm sorry I helped her to do it."

"No," Victoire shook her head. "I mean, everything you said was true. Obviously Teddy being with Beverly does bother me. I'm just not sure I completely understand it myself."

Kara nodded. "Well Teddy's like your big brother," she said. "It must be weird to see your big brother kissing some girl all over the castle. Especially when they insist on making out in the middle of the common room."

"Yeah," Victoire agreed. "That's definitely super weird."

"That's probably all it is," Kara assured her.

"You're probably right," Victoire agreed. "I don't know why I'm reacting so strongly to it all."

Kara reached over and gave Victoire a hug.

"I guess I should apologize to Brianna?" Victoire wondered.

"You can do that tomorrow," Kara assured her. "I'll make sure she knows it wasn't really about her."

"Thanks Kara," Victoire said as Kara moved off the bed.

"Goodnight Vic," Kara said before letting the curtain fall back into place.

Alone again, Victoire snuggled down under the covers and laid her head against her pillow. Kara was right. She was just weirded out by the whole thing. It also didn't help that Teddy was so public about his new relationship – that was probably why she was so frustrated with him whenever she saw him. If he would just keep his private life private, then she wouldn't have to see it, and then she wouldn't have to look at Teddy differently every time he tried to talk.

Sleep found Victoire relatively quickly that night and for once, her sleep was dreamless.

VvVvVvVvVvV

"There's no water!"

Victoire awoke the following morning to the horrified screeching of Brianna.

"What do you mean?" Victoire asked, sitting up groggily and pushing her curtains open.

"I mean there's no water!" Brianna repeated. "Literally. No water. At all."

"Like your glass is empty?" Victoire frowned in confusion, still half asleep. "Just go fill it up."

"Victoire, I need you to pay attention," Brianna said slowly. "There… is… no… water. Anywhere."

Realization dawning on her, Victoire shot out of bed and hurried into the bathroom. She went straight for the nearest sink and frantically turned the faucet, but nothing came out.

"Brianna," she said in dismay. "There's no water."

"That's what I've been trying to tell you," Brianna cried.

"Well what happened?" Victoire demanded.

"I don't know," Brianna replied. "Kara went down to the common room to try to find a prefect to sort it all out but she hasn't returned yet."

"What about Raina and Caitlin?" Victoire wondered. "Do they know anything?"

Brianna shrugged. "They were already gone when I woke up. As usual. Caitlin's probably running with Adrian, and Raina's probably in the greenhouse with her plants and her fertilizer."

Just then, Kara returned with a prefect in tow.

"Sorry girls, but it looks like there's no water anywhere in the castle," Beverly Longman told them, appearing in the doorway. "Professor Longbottom was just here to announce it. The prefects have a meeting with the Heads of House later today so that they can update us on the situation, but until then I don't have any more information."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Victoire demanded accusatorily, as though the whole problem was Beverly's fault.

"For now just manage as best you can and hopefully the water will be back on this afternoon," Beverly said before hurrying back downstairs, probably to explain to the rest of the students.

"Well this is a disaster!" Victoire cried once the three of them were alone again. "How am I supposed to wash my hair or brush my teeth without water?"

"You don't need water to brush your teeth," Kara pointed out.

"How am I going to clean my toothbrush?" Victoire asked.

"A simple cleaning charm should suffice," Kara replied. "I can do one if you'd like, I've gotten quite good at them."

"Fine," Victoire allowed. "But that doesn't solve the showering problem."

"At least you're relatively clean," Caitlin said, appearing in the doorway stinking of sweat. "I just ran around the castle five times only to get back to discover that there's no water."

"Well maybe now you'll be more careful about when you work up a sweat," Brianna said.

"Oh right," Caitlin rolled her eyes. "Because any of us could have predicted this," she said sarcastically.

"Whatever," Brianna muttered as Caitlin disappeared into the dorm.

VvVvVvVvVvV

"Hey there," Teddy said as he joined the three girls at breakfast that morning. "So this water shortage is pretty insane, right? The prefects have a meeting about it after classes, but I can update you as soon as it's over if you want."

"You stink," Victoire sniffed, stabbing her bacon with her fork and raising it to her mouth.

"Yeah, that's kind of the problem," Teddy joked, unperturbed by Victoire's cold attitude.

Victoire ignored him.

"Victoire, I – "

"We're going to be late to class," Victoire interjected, standing up and grabbing her things. "Come on guys."

VvVvVvVvVvV

"So it looks like we're going to be without water for a while," Teddy informed them later that afternoon in the library. "Professor McGonagall made an announcement at breakfast, but you were already gone."

"Yeah, we already heard," Victoire said coolly.

"Don't you want to know why?" Teddy asked.

"Does it really matter?" Victoire pointed out. "Either way, we're all going to smell for a few days."

"I just thought – "

"We've got homework," Victoire interrupted. "Would you mind letting us work?"

"Sorry," Teddy said sadly. "I'll just go…"

As Teddy walked away, Kara rounded on Victoire.

"Why are you being so mean to him?" she demanded.

Victoire shrugged. "I'm not. We just have a lot of homework."

"No we don't," Kara disagreed. "Come on Victoire, I know you don't want to talk about this, but whatever's bugging you is starting to affect other people. Teddy's miserable. You need to figure whatever all this is out and make things right with him before you lose him forever. Unless that's what you want. Do you want to lose Teddy forever?"

"No," Victoire admitted.

"Then talk to him already!" Kara cried.

Kara was right. Victoire was being dumb. Whatever it was that made her so angry with Teddy whenever she saw him, she had to confront it. She couldn't go on like this. Teddy was miserable. Kara and Brianna were miserable. Worst of all, Victoire was miserable.

VvVvVvVvVvV

"Go on," Kara insisted later in the common room. "Go talk to him."

"I don't think this is a good time," Victoire disagreed. Teddy and Beverly were sitting in front of the fire together, Beverly's head leaning on Teddy's shoulder.

"It's not like they're making out or anything. _That_ you wouldn't want to interrupt," Brianna said. "But they're just sitting. In the middle of the common room. If they wanted to be alone, they could be."

"I don't really want to have the conversation in front of Beverly though," Victoire said.

"So ask Teddy if you can speak in private," Brianna said, as though this were the most obvious thing in the world.

"I don't want to make things even weirder," Victoire disagreed.

"You already are making things weird," Kara pointed out. "You can't make them any weirder at this point."

"I mean with Teddy," Victoire amended.

"Yeah," Kara agreed. "So do I."

Just then, Beverly leaned over and gave Teddy a swift kiss before standing up and heading up to the dorms.

"This is your chance," Kara said. "Go now, before he disappears on rounds or something."

"Okay," Victoire said, taking a deep breath. "Here I go."

She stood up and slowly approached the couch where Teddy was still sitting and staring at the fire.

"Hey Teddy," she said softly, crossing her arms in front of herself protectively. "Can we talk?"

"Yes! Absolutely!" Teddy said eagerly, gesturing for Victoire to sit down on the couch.

"I guess I just wanted to say… that I'm sorry for how I've been acting recently," Victoire said. "I don't know if you've noticed, but I've been kind of abrasive."

"Yeah, I did notice that," Teddy said. "What's that all been about?"

"I don't know," Victoire shrugged uncomfortably. This was why she hadn't wanted to come and talk to Teddy – she didn't want to face feelings she didn't completely understand herself. Sure, she understood some parts, but she still felt like she was missing something crucial

"Come on, it's me you're talking to," Teddy said. "You can be honest."

"I guess this whole Beverly thing is just a little weird for me," Victoire admitted. "I mean, she's the first girl I've seen you with, so it was a little shocking."

"Okay," Teddy said slowly, processing. "But that doesn't explain why you've been freezing me out the way you have."

Victoire shrugged again, hating how good Teddy was at seeing right through her.

"I guess I was also a bit mad that you were spending so much time with her instead of me. You're always around, watching out for me and stuff, and I know that's just because Uncle Harry and my father told you to, but I think I've been taking it for granted and I was sad that I was losing you," Victoire confessed.

"First of all," Teddy said. "You don't have to worry about losing me. No matter who I decide to date, you'll always have a special place in my life."

Victoire smiled. Maybe this conversation was a good idea.

"But what I still don't understand," Teddy continued, "is why if you were afraid of losing me, you decided to push me away?"

Victoire shook her head and turned away as she pondered Teddy's question. "I don't know…" Victoire muttered. "I was angry, and upset, and I hated seeing you with Beverly all the time. Always kissing in the corridors or making out in the common room… I just wanted… I wanted…" Victoire trailed off as suddenly, a light went off in her brain. "I wanted… oh my gosh!"

Victoire jumped up off the couch and covered her mouth. Realization flooded through her, along with a deep sense of mortification and just wrong-ness.

"I'm sorry, I have to go," she said, hurrying back to the corner of the room where Kara and Brianna were waiting for her.

"What happened?" Kara asked as Victoire returned.

"I just realized something," Victoire said, her eyes wide.

"What?" Kara wondered.

"I can't tell you down here. We have to go up to the dorm," Victoire insisted.

"Why?" Brianna asked.

"I'll tell you when we get there," Victoire insisted.

Reluctantly, Kara and Brianna gathered their things and followed Victoire up to the dorm. When they arrived, Victoire made sure Raina and Caitlin weren't around and then shut the door, magically locking it so nobody would walk in in the middle of her confession.

"So?" Kara asked, sitting cross-legged on her bed, eagerly awaiting Victoire's news.

"Okay, so you know how I've been so obsessed with Teddy and Beverly and so mad at Teddy and so moody and grumpy lately?" Victoire asked.

"Have you? I hadn't noticed," Brianna said sarcastically.

Victoire ignored her friend's comment.

"Well talking to Teddy just now made me realize. I think I like him. Like, really like him. Maybe even love him. I don't really know. But that's why I've been so weird and obsessive and jealous of Beverly," Victoire said.

Kara and Brianna sat in stunned silence.

Victoire closed her eyes. "I know, it's terrible," she said. "He's basically my cousin, practically like a big brother. Plus, he's like, two years older than me. It's so wrong that I like him, right? There must be something wrong with me?"

"Of course not," Brianna said, regaining the ability to speak. "But are you sure that's what this is?"

"Pretty sure," Victoire said.

"What about Nathaniel?" Kara asked. "Does this feel anything like how you felt for Nathaniel?"

"Not at all," Victoire admitted. "This is so much more. I don't think I ever really liked Nathaniel. I just liked the idea of having a boyfriend."

"Maybe this is just a crush," Brianna suggested. "Maybe you'll get over it."

"Yeah," Victoire agreed. "Maybe…"

"Look," Brianna said. "Do you want to pursue a relationship with Teddy?"

"Merlin no!" Victoire cried. "I mean yes, but no. I could never tell him how I feel. He'd be repulsed. We're like family. I'm like a kid sister. He'd never have these sorts of feelings for me. Besides, he's with Beverly, so it doesn't matter anyway."

"Okay, so if you don't want to pursue a relationship, then you only have one other option," Brianna informed her. "Move on."

"Yeah…" Victoire said quietly. This conversation hadn't gone exactly as she'd hoped. Back in the common room, everything had suddenly been so clear. Now things had gotten complicated again. "I think I need to sleep on it," Victoire decided. "I'll sort all this out in the morning."

Not waiting for comment from Kara or Brianna, Victoire pulled her curtains closed and for the second night in a row, crawled into bed still wearing her robes and pulled L'Ourson to her chest.

As Victoire waited for sleep to claim her, thoughts of Teddy began to swirl around in her mind. First it was just his face – his blue eyes and dirty blond hair, his shirt always slightly untucked from his pants, and his prefect badge standing out against his black robes, representing responsibility and leadership. Then thoughts of her family invaded her thoughts. How disgusted her parents would be knowing how she felt about the boy she had practically grown up with. How wrong it was to like Teddy.

Victoire knew she had to get Teddy out of her mind. At least now that she knew how she felt, she could deal with her feelings for what they were. But Victoire knew it was going to be difficult. Especially now that knowing how she felt, she wouldn't be able to push Teddy away anymore. Nor would she ever tell him how she felt. That would just be humiliating.

VvVvVvVvVvV

"Hey Vic," Teddy greeted Victoire the following morning at breakfast.

"Hey Teddy," Victoire squealed, unprepared for the sudden appearance of her newly discovered crush.

"You ran off pretty fast last night," Teddy said. "We never finished our conversation."

"Oh, that," Victoire said, about three octaves higher than her normal register. Kara and Brianna exchanged a look, but Victoire ignored it. "Haha, yes well, I remembered that I had to um… get some robes in the laundry before the elves took it away for the night."

Teddy frowned. "There's no water in the castle," he pointed out. "The elves can't do the laundry until it returns."

"Oh right!" Victoire screeched. "Well then I guess I didn't need to worry about that laundry. Won't be getting that back for a while. Oh well!"

"So are we good then?" Teddy asked, furrowing his brow in confusion at Victoire's odd behaviour.

"Yeah, of course, absolutely, definitely," Victoire confirmed. "We're great. Better than great. Super. Well not super. Maybe just great. Listen, I've got to get to class, but I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Yeah… sure," Teddy said.

"Victoire?" Brianna said as she and Kara followed Victoire out of the Great Hall. "You're a disaster."

"I know," Victoire sighed in desperation. "I don't know how I'm going to make this okay."

"You'll figure it out," Kara assured her. "I know you will."


	8. April

Chapter 8: April 2014

Over the next few weeks, Victoire was able to find a way to act normally around Teddy. The whole thing was still very weird and uncomfortable for her, but after realizing how she felt, not having Teddy in her life at all was worse than anything. She knew she would eventually get over her feelings. Someday, she would meet someone else and fall for him and everything would be fine. She just had to make it until then.

"Did you hear the rumour?" Billy asked, approaching Victoire and her friends one day while they were studying in the library.

"Which one?" Victoire asked. They heard lots of rumours after all.

"The one about Professor Leftbridge," Billy clarified. "They're saying he's retiring."

"What?" Kara exclaimed. "Retiring? He's not that old."

"Yeah, he's only been teaching here for, what… fifteen years?" Brianna added.

"That's nothing!" Victoire cried. "If anyone should be retiring, it should be Professor Flitwick!"

Billy shrugged. "Well I heard it was Professor Leftbridge," he said. "I guess we'll find out soon enough though."

As quickly as he had arrived, Billy left to join his friends.

"I don't believe it," Brianna declared. "Professor Leftbridge isn't retiring. I'm sure of it."

VvVvVvVvVvV

Later that night, as the girls were getting ready for bed, Victoire discovered that L'Ourson wasn't on her bed where she'd left him that morning. She wondered if the house elves had moved him while they were cleaning… they didn't normally move him, but maybe they'd just forgotten to put him back.

Victoire checked under her bed and then in her trunk, but still she couldn't find the stuffed bear.

"Hey guys?" she asked, getting a little concerned. "Have any of you seen L'Ourson?"

"You mean your stuffed animal?" Caitlin asked, her voice dripping with distain.

"Yes," Victoire said unashamedly. There'd been a time when she would have been embarrassed to have her roommates know about her stuffed bear, but now she no longer cared.

"Not since this morning," Kara took over from Caitlin. "Where did you leave him?"

"On my bed," Victoire said. "But I can't find him anywhere."

"Do you think maybe the elves threw him in the laundry?" Kara wondered.

"Why?" Victoire asked. "He's not laundry. He's not even clothing."

"Just a guess," Kara said.

"Okay but seriously though guys, where is he?" Victoire demanded, starting to get worried.

"Calm down Victoire," Brianna said. "We'll look, okay?"

The girls searched and searched the dorm, but nobody was able to find L'Ourson. Eventually, Caitlin had to go to sleep, and soon after she was followed by Raina. After a few more minutes of searching, Brianna gave up too, apologizing and assuring Victoire they'd find the bear in the morning.

"Kara, what am I supposed to do?" Victoire asked when it was just the two of them left. "I can't sleep without him."

Kara shrugged. "I don't know Vic, but he's clearly not up here. Do you want to check the common room?"

"Why would L'Ourson be in the common room?" Victoire wondered.

"I don't know," Kara said. "I just thought – "

"Actually yeah, let's check the common room," Victoire decided. It couldn't hurt to look after all, and L'Ourson clearly wasn't in the dorm.

The girls descended to the common room and began looking around. It was late, so not too many people were around, and those who were left were mostly upperclassmen. Victoire recognized Teddy and Beverly kissing in a corner and decided to break her rule of never interrupting them to see if they knew anything.

"Hey Teddy?" Victoire approached, causing the two to tear themselves apart. Beverly glared at Victoire, but Victoire hardly cared about bothering the female prefect.

"What's up?" Teddy asked, pushing Beverly out of his lap. Beverly frowned and crossed her arms, sighing in exasperation when Teddy didn't acknowledge her frustration with the situation.

"Have you seen L'Ourson?" Victoire asked.

"L'Ourson?" Teddy asked, confused. "Why would I have seen him? Don't you keep him in your dorm?"

"Normally I do," Victoire agreed. "But he's missing and I can't find him. I thought he might be down here, but Kara and I haven't been able to find him."

"I haven't seen him," Teddy confessed. "Do you need help looking? I'm a prefect, so if you think you left him in a classroom or something, I could go look without getting in trouble."

"Thanks Teddy," Victoire smiled sadly. "But if he's not down here, then I don't know where he could be."

"Well I'll definitely keep my eyes open," Teddy promised.

"Thanks," Victoire said. "I'm going to go. You can get back to… whatever." Victoire waved her hands in front of her face awkwardly and then grabbed Kara and ran back up to the dorm.

"Sorry Victoire," Kara said apologetically.

"It's not your fault," Victoire sighed. "I just wish I knew where he was."

"Are you going to be alright tonight?" Kara wondered.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Victoire assured her. "I can make it through one night without L'Ourson, right?"

"That's the spirit," Kara smiled.

With that said, Kara climbed into bed, bidding goodnight to Victoire. Sadly, Victoire climbed into her own bed and pulled the curtains closed, curling up in a ball. Without L'Ourson, her arms felt empty and she clutched them to her chest, desperately wishing she had something to hold onto.

VvVvVvVvVvV

Victoire slept poorly that night, and when she woke up, she was exhausted from the lack of sleep.

"Did you ever find him?" Brianna asked in the bathroom as Victoire brushed her teeth and washed her face.

"No," Victoire said sadly. "We checked the whole dorm, and the common room, and even Teddy said he hadn't seen him."

"Maybe he ran away," Caitlin joked, emerging from the shower with a towel wrapped around her.

"That's not funny," Victoire frowned.

Caitlin shrugged. "I didn't mean it to be," she said, returning to the dorm.

VvVvVvVvVvV

Over the course of the rest of the day, Victoire was unable to focus in any of her classes. Her mind was too foggy from the lack of sleep, and the only thoughts she had room for were wondering where L'Ourson was. If she hadn't moved him from the dorm, and the house elves hadn't moved him from the dorm, then that meant one of her roommates had done it. The question was, who?

Victoire considered each of her roommates in turn. Caitlin was the obvious answer. Caitlin hated her and her friends and wasn't afraid to say so. She'd always thought L'Ourson was babyish and had made fun of Victoire on numerous occasions for sleeping with a stuffed bear.

On the other hand, Raina could have taken L'Ourson too. It was no secret that Victoire and her friends weren't too fond of Raina and they had never really attempted to get to know her. Perhaps Raina had taken it as a form of retribution for always being left out?

Victoire couldn't imagine that Kara could have taken L'Ourson. Kara was the kindest, gentlest, most caring and sensitive person she knew. Even after all the others had gone to sleep, Kara had stayed up with Victoire, helping to search the dorm and the common room well into the night.

Brianna on the other hand… Brianna had always been a little unpredictable. Victoire couldn't possibly imagine what could motivate Brianna to do something like this, but if it did turn out that Brianna was the culprit, Victoire realized that she wouldn't be all too surprised.

Finally, Victoire decided that things had gone far enough. If L'Ourson didn't materialize by that night, Victoire was going to demand to see inside everyone's trunk. She was going to get to the bottom of this, one way or another.

VvVvVvVvVvV

"You want to snoop through our trunks?" Caitlin asked that night in disbelief.

"That's right," Victoire confirmed. "If you didn't take him, then you have nothing to hide."

"Well I certainly don't mind you looking through my trunk," Raina spoke first. "There's nothing exciting in there, but it's probably going to smell a bit."

A little reluctantly, Victoire approached Raina's trunk and leaned over it as Raina held the lid open. She rifled through it for a second and then decided that L'Ourson wasn't inside, and if he were, he probably smelled so strongly of fertilizer that she wouldn't want him back anyway.

"You might as well check mine next," Kara offered with a shrug, pulling the lid back.

Victoire took a cursory glance inside before deciding that Kara wasn't the culprit either.

"I never thought you'd taken him anyway," Victoire assured Kara.

Victoire turned to Brianna next.

"What are you looking at me for?" Brianna demanded. "Obviously it's Caitlin that took him. You should be looking in her trunk, not mine."

"For this to be fair, I need to look in everyone's trunk," Victoire stated.

"You're saying you think I stole him?" Brianna cried. "You said you never thought Kara had done it, but me you suspect? Am I not a good enough friend?"

"I looked in Kara's trunk too," Victoire defended herself.

"Barely," Brianna muttered.

"Honestly Brianna, your reluctance is making me more suspicious than anything else," Victoire said.

"Fine," Brianna cried, throwing open her trunk. "Happy now?"

Victoire peeked in, and upon not seeing L'Ourson, backed away.

"Glad to see we have such a trusting friendship," Brianna mumbled under her breath.

"Come on Bri, don't be like that," Victoire pleaded.

Brianna ignored her.

"Alright Caitlin," Victoire said, deciding to deal with Brianna's hurt feelings later. "You're the only one left."

"I did not steal your stupid bear," Caitlin assured her. "This is ridiculous. I have rights, you know."

Before Victoire could respond, Beverly Longman appeared in their doorway.

"Victoire, Teddy's down in the common room. He was hoping he could talk to you," Beverly said.

"Did he find L'Ourson?" Victoire asked eagerly.

"I think you should talk to Teddy yourself," Beverly said.

"Okay," Victoire agreed. "I'll be back," she added to Caitlin. "If he hasn't found L'Ourson, then I'm going to insist on checking your trunk."

"I'm going to speak to Professor Longbottom about this," Caitlin declared, stomping out of the dorm. "He'll tell you. You can't just go rifling through other people's private stuff."

Ignoring Caitlin, Victoire hurried down to the common room to find Teddy. He was sitting on the good couch – the one only upperclassmen ever sat on, and Victoire approached nervously.

"Did you find L'Ourson?" she asked.

"You should probably sit down," Teddy suggested.

"That sounds bad," Victoire said.

Teddy remained silent until Victoire did as she was told.

"Alright, so don't freak out," Teddy said. "You're going to want to, but I want you to remember that it isn't as bad as it looks."

"Okay…" Victoire said uneasily, biting her lip.

Teddy hesitated. "I found L'Ourson," he said, reaching behind him and producing a ripped up, shredded pile of material and stuffing. "I heard you were still looking, so I started looking between the couch cushions and this is what I found."

"Oh my god," Victoire cried in absolute shock. "L'Ourson, what happened to you?"

"Like I said, don't freak out," Teddy repeated.

"Don't freak out?" Victoire cried. "He's been destroyed. Someone killed him! What am I going to do? This is the only thing I have left to remember _grand-papa Delacour_!"

"Calm down Vic," Teddy said. "I think we can mend it."

"Really?" Victoire asked hopefully.

"Sure," Teddy said. "Here, set it on the ground. I want to try something."

Victoire did as instructed and Teddy produced his wand, pointing it at the bear. "Reparo," he said.

When nothing happened, Teddy looked sheepishly at Victoire.

"Okay, well that didn't work," he said. "But I'm going to go to the library right now and find a spell that will work. You just wait right here."

Before Victoire could protest, Teddy had jumped up and climbed out the portrait hole, on the way to the library. With a sigh, Victoire leaned back on the couch and pulled her feet up next to her.

"Hey, kid," an upperclassman walked over. "That couch is for upperclassmen only. Move it."

Victoire rolled her eyes. Not caring to get into an argument about how the common room was a space for everyone, she grabbed the remains of L'Ourson and climbed the stairs back to the dorms.

"So what did Teddy want?" Kara asked as soon as Victoire returned.

"He found L'Ourson," Victoire said dejectedly.

"Really?" Kara cried. "That's great!"

"Yeah, except for one thing," Victoire said, holding L'Ourson up for her to see.

"Oh," Kara said, her smile disappearing. "I'm so sorry Victoire."

"Teddy's gone to see if he can find a Charm to fix it, but I think it's beyond hope," Victoire said sadly.

"Well at least we've established that I did not steal it," Caitlin piped up. "So I hope there will be no more talk of searching my bag?"

"Don't worry Caitlin, you're off the hook," Victoire assured her.

"Well, I don't think I was ever on the hook, but…" Caitlin muttered to herself.

"Wait a minute," Brianna said. "There's still one question we haven't answered."

"What's that?" Victoire asked.

"How did L'Ourson end up in that condition?" Brianna pointed out. "Not to mention, how did he end up wherever Teddy found him instead of on your bed?" Brianna looked pointedly in Raina's direction.

"Are you implying I did this?" Raina cried indignantly. "Because I swear, I would never!"

"Not you," Brianna cried. "That monster you call a pet."

"Ricky?" Raina gasped. "Ricky would never do something so heinous."

"Are you sure about that?" Brianna demanded. "Did you see what he did to my purple sweater?"

"But Ricky knows better than to rip up a stuffed animal," Raina said. "Clothes are different. Especially when you leave them lying around on the floor."

Before Brianna could retort, Victoire held up a hand. "Can we not argue please?" she asked. "What's done is done. There's no going back now, so we might as well move on. L'Ourson is dead. I guess I'm just going to have to deal with that."

A tear rolled down Victoire's cheek, followed by another, and then another. Soon she was fully crying and hugging the remains of L'Ourson to her chest.

She felt a strong pair of arms wrap around her and realized that Kara was giving her a hug.

"Don't worry Victoire, it'll be alright," Kara assured her.

"No it won't," Victoire disagreed, a lump forming in her throat. "Things are never going to be okay again."

"Well let's not exaggerate," Caitlin rolled her eyes.

"Not helping," Kara shot at her. She helped Victoire climb into her bed and extracted L'Ourson from her arms, placing him delicately on her side table. "Here," she said, handing Victoire her extra pillow. "Just hold onto the pillow tonight, and tomorrow we'll figure out how to fix L'Ourson," she promised.

"Okay," Victoire sniffled. Caitlin was right. She was overreacting. She was almost fourteen years old and crying over a stuffed bear. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize," Kara instructed her. "Just sleep."

VvVvVvVvVvV

Victoire awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of someone swearing very loudly.

"What's going on?" Brianna asked groggily.

"I don't know," Victoire said. "I'm going to go and find out."

Carefully, Victoire climbed out of bed and creeped over to the door. Once out on the landing, she found that she wasn't the only Gryffindor girl curious about the disturbance. Together with the other light sleepers, Victoire padded down to the common room only to find Teddy lying on the floor by the girls' staircase angrily massaging his shoulder.

"Teddy?" Victoire squinted. "What are you doing?"

"I forgot about that staircase turning into a slide," Teddy grumbled. "I landed on my shoulder. I think I dislocated it."

Victoire rolled her eyes. "You definitely didn't dislocate your shoulder from a little fall," she assured him. "Why were you - ?"

Victoire cut herself off, realizing that if Teddy was trying to sneak up to see Beverly, she did not want to hear about it.

"I was coming to find you," Teddy confessed.

Victoire shook her head, sure she had heard wrong. "Excuse me?" she asked.

"I didn't realize how late it was," Teddy admitted. "I was down in the library, and – "

"You've been down in the library all this time?" Victoire asked. "It's way past curfew."

"I'm a prefect, I won't get in trouble," Teddy waved his hand in front of his face. "But that's not the point. I found a spell that will fix L'Ourson."

"Really?" Victoire asked disbelievingly.

"I did. Go get him and I'll show you," Teddy said eagerly.

Victoire didn't know whether to let herself get her hopes up or not. If it worked, it would be a miracle. But if it didn't work, she was going to be very disappointed.

Deciding it was worth a shot, Victoire ran back upstairs to grab L'Ourson.

"What's going on?" Brianna asked, reminding Victoire that she'd left Brianna behind when she'd gone to see what the commotion was.

"Just Teddy being an idiot," Victoire replied. "I'll be right back."

Victoire hurried down the stairs, which were empty now that the girls had all returned to their own dorms, realizing that nothing interesting was going on.

"Here," Victoire said, handing L'Ourson to Teddy. "Do your best."

Teddy placed L'Ourson carefully on the ground and pointed his wand at him. He closed his eyes, began turning his wand in a counter-clockwise motion and said, " _emantur ligna_!"

Suddenly, stuffing began to materialize and stuff itself inside L'Ourson. Parts of the bear's body that had been ripped through sewed themselves back together and right before Victoire's eyes, L'Ourson turned into L'Ourson again.

"Teddy, thank you," Victoire cried, running forward and picking L'Ourson up in a tight hug. "He's just like he was."

"Good as new," Teddy smiled.

"I can't believe you went to all that trouble for me," Victoire commented.

Teddy shrugged. "It was no big deal," he said. "Besides, if Remus ever got all ripped up like that, I wouldn't rest until I found a way to fix him."

"Your stuffed wolf?" Victoire asked. "You still have him?"

"Of course!" Teddy said. "All respectable wizards have a stuffed animal to sleep with at night."

Victoire laughed. "Well thanks again," she said, giving Teddy a quick hug.

"Goodnight Victoire," Teddy smiled.

"Goodnight Teddy," Victoire returned, walking back up the stairs to the dorm and crawling into bed with L'Ourson.

That night, Victoire slept more soundly than she had, even before she'd lost L'Ourson. When she awoke the following morning, her roommates were delighted to find that L'Ourson had been mended, relieved not to have to deal with more meltdowns at bedtime for the rest of the foreseeable future. Everything was back as it should be.


	9. May

Chapter 9: May 2014

Victoire awoke the morning of May 2nd to a very loud and off-pitch rendition of _Happy Birthday_ being sung by her two best friends and her sister.

"Why are you singing?" Victoire groaned, wiping the sleep from her eyes.

"Dominique insisted," Brianna explained. "Said that when you were a kid, your family always woke you by singing and that we had to continue the tradition."

"It's true," Victoire said, remembering being wrenched from her sleep only to find her family singing to her off-key.

"Happy Birthday Victoire!" Dominique exclaimed. "Here, open my present first," she ordered, grabbing it off the top of the pile that had accumulated at the foot of Victoire's bed overnight and handing it to her older sister.

Smiling, Victoire unwrapped the package to find a handmade card on which it was written: _I (Dominique Weasley) promise to get you snacks from the kitchens anytime you want for the rest of the year_.

"Thanks Dominique," Victoire said.

"As long as it isn't close to or after curfew," Dominique amended.

"Of course," Victoire agreed seriously. "I wouldn't ask you to break the rules."

"Because I'm already on my second strike with Mr. Clarke, so if he catches me again, I'm going to be in a lot of trouble," Dominique added.

"You… wait what?" Victoire frowned. "Why are you already up to two strikes? Why are you wandering around after hours Domi?"

"Oh, it's no big deal," Dominique waved. "Anyway, I have to go get ready. I'll see you later!"

"Wait!" Victoire cried as Dominique bounced out of the dorm room. "Dominique! Don't think we're finished talking about this!"

"Relax," Brianna said. "You're not her mother. Besides, it's not like you've never been caught out after curfew by Mr. Clarke."

"Yeah, but that was one time in three years," Victoire pointed out. "Domi says she's already been caught twice in less than a year."

"Mr. Clarke knows what he's doing. If it's a problem, he'll write your parents about it. Or Headmistress McGonagall will. Either way, it's not your job to police her," Brianna declared. "Now open the rest of your presents so we can go eat."

"Gee thanks Bri," Victoire shook her head at her friend's lack of sensitivity. "I feel very celebrated."

"Just take the presents," Brianna rolled her eyes, throwing the nearest present at Victoire's head.

VvVvVvVvVvV

After Victoire had opened all her presents and the three girls had gotten ready for the day, they descended to the Great Hall for breakfast.

"Here, have some French toast," Kara suggested, stabbing a piece with her fork and dropping it in Victoire's plate.

"Have a pancake too," Brianna suggested. "They have blueberries in them today."

"And don't forget to have some bacon," Kara added some of that to the plate.

"And sausage," Brianna tossed some in with the bacon.

"Whoa!" Victoire cried, overwhelmed. "What are you guys doing? Trying to fatten me up?"

"Just trying to make sure you have a great birthday meal," Kara shrugged.

"Well how about I start with a pancake and some bacon and go from there?" Victoire suggested, switching her plate for an empty one nearby and taking only the food she was hungry enough for.

As she did so, the sound of arguing carried down from the other end of the Gryffindor Table.

"What's going on over there?" Victoire wondered, leaning forward to see who it was.

"Looks like it's Teddy and Beverly," Kara noted.

"I wonder why they're arguing," Brianna mused. "Or what they're arguing about."

Victoire bit her lip. The anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts was always a tough day for Teddy. She hoped Beverly would realize that he wasn't himself and cut him some slack for whatever he might be saying.

"You know what?" Victoire declared, trying to move her friend's attention away from Teddy and Beverly. "I think I will have a sausage with this breakfast after all."

VvVvVvVvVvV

The rest of the day wasn't particularly productive for the third years. Teachers never assigned much for May 2nd, because they knew not all students would be paying attention, and sometimes some wouldn't show up to class at all.

In Herbology, Professor Longbottom gave them a free period to wander around in the greenhouse and interact with the various plants they had studied that year. In Defence, Professor Leftbridge gave a lecture about the Battle of Hogwarts that nobody really listened to because they'd heard it all before. In Transfiguration, Professor Tonks declared the class a silent reading period, and in Muggle Studies, Professor Carbourough brought them to the library and told them to work on their final papers.

When their final class was over, Victoire and her friends decided that it had been enough work for the day. It was still Victoire's birthday, and they were going to celebrate by playing exploding snap in the common room until dinner. As they hiked up to the common room, they passed Beverly Longman on the stairs.

"Hey," Victoire called out. "Why aren't you with Teddy?"

Beverly turned around to reveal her tear-stained face and puffy red eyes.

"He broke up with me," she told them.

"So you just left him?" Victoire demanded angrily.

"What was I supposed to do?" Beverly asked. "Didn't you hear me? He _broke up_ with me."

"I heard you," Victoire said. "Don't you realize what day it is?"

"It's May 2nd," Beverly said. "So what?"

"So what?" Victoire cried. "Where is he?"

"I don't know," Beverly shook her head. "It's not like we're together anymore. I don't have to know where he is all the time."

Victoire ground her teeth together. Somewhere in this castle, Teddy was alone and hurting and Beverly couldn't understand, or else just didn't care. She had to find him and make sure he was alright. If things had gotten bad enough that he'd broken up with his girlfriend, Victoire was afraid of how dark of a place he could be in.

"Whatever," Victoire muttered. "Just do whatever you were doing. I'll find him."

She hurried up the stairs, deciding that the first place to start was the common room.

"Hey Victoire?" Kara cried, trying to keep up with her friend. "Don't you think that was a little rude and insensitive?"

"I think Beverly was a little rude and insensitive," Victoire said.

"Her boyfriend just broke up with her," Kara pointed out. "She's allowed to be sad."

"It wasn't about her," Victoire shook her head. "Breaking up with her was just his only outlet for his pain."

"And how do you know all this?" Brianna demanded.

"I just know," Victoire insisted. They arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady and Victoire shouted out the password, climbing through the portrait hole as soon as she swung open. "Teddy?" she called out, looking around for the older boy. "Teddy?"

"He's not here," Brianna pointed out the obvious.

"Well then where is he?" Victoire demanded.

"I don't know," Brianna said, holding her hands up in surrender. "Don't get mad at me, I haven't done anything."

"Sorry," Victoire apologized, forcing herself to remember that Kara and Brianna were only trying to help. "Hey, Billy!" she cried, recognizing Billy Carmichael, Teddy's best friend.

"Victoire! What's up?" Billy asked.

"Have you seen Teddy?" Victoire asked.

"Last I saw he was heading outside," Billy shrugged. "I try to stay out of his way when he has his days."

Victoire shook her head. The last thing Teddy needed today was to be alone.

"I know where he is," she declared, turning back the way she came in.

"Do you want us to come with you?" Kara offered, unsure how to proceed.

"No, it'll be better if only I go," Victoire decided.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" Brianna asked, probably referring to Victoire's recent epiphany regarding her feelings for Teddy.

"This isn't about me," Victoire said. "It's about Teddy."

She left then, hurrying down the Grand Staircase to the Entrance Hall and then outside, past the Entrance Courtyard to the ground. As she'd predicted, Teddy was once again sitting by the shore of the lake, staring out at the water.

Victoire approached cautiously, unsure what kind of mood Teddy would be in. If he was sad, that would be one thing, but if he was mad, she didn't want to set him off.

"Hey Teddy," she said softly, keeping her distance until she'd assessed the situation.

"Victoire," Teddy nodded at her curtly.

"How are you feeling?" Victoire asked.

"Fine," Teddy responded. His voice was emotionless, leaving Victoire at a loss to decipher his emotions.

"Do you want to talk?" Victoire wondered.

"Not really," Teddy replied.

"How about if I just sit down over here?" Victoire suggested, gesturing to a spot nearby, but not right next to Teddy.

"Do what you want," Teddy shrugged.

"Okay," Victoire said, settling down in the grass and joining Teddy in staring across the lake. "Nice day, isn't it?" she ventured.

"I suppose," Teddy allowed.

"Almost no clouds," Victoire observed.

"Can we not talk?" Teddy asked.

"Sure," Victoire agreed, immediately shutting her mouth. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them watching the water ripple, waiting and hoping that Teddy would open up to her eventually.

After what seemed like forever, Teddy finally spoke.

"Why are you here?" he asked, his voice broken and strained. Victoire glanced over in surprise to find tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Teddy, I – " she leaned over as if to hug him and then stopped herself, instead sitting back down a little nearer. "I know this day is really hard for you," she said. "I didn't think you should be alone."

Teddy wiped the tears from his eyes. "How did you know where I was?" he wondered.

"Teddy I've known you since we were little. You're basically my best friend. Of course I knew where you were," Victoire said. "Also Billy saw you leaving the castle."

Teddy nodded. "Of course he did," he said stiffly.

"Don't be mad at Billy," Victoire said. "He thinks he's doing you a favor by leaving you alone."

"It's not Billy I'm mad at," Teddy said.

Victoire waited a beat, and when Teddy didn't elaborate, she ventured a guess. "Beverly?" she asked.

"She just doesn't understand," Teddy said.

"Well of course not," Victoire agreed. "She's only known you a little while. It takes time to properly understand someone."

Teddy shook his head. "No," he disagreed. "It's more than that. She _can't_ understand."

"Sure she can," Victoire said, hating herself for pushing him to get back together with Beverly, but knowing it was the right thing to do. "You just have to give her time."

"It's too late anyway," Teddy shrugged. "I broke up with her."

"I know," Victoire said. "I spoke to her."

"You spoke to her?" Teddy said, meeting Victoire's eyes for the first time.

"Yeah," Victoire nodded. "She seemed pretty upset."

Teddy scoffed. "Upset," he muttered. "Do you know what she said to me?"

"What?" Victoire prompted when he didn't continue immediately.

"She told me that if everyone else could go on with their day, then I should too and that today wasn't any different than any other day so there was no reason for me to be upset," Teddy revealed.

"She didn't say that!" Victoire cried disbelievingly.

"She also told me that I was being selfish, making today all about me," Teddy added.

Victoire gaped. "No wonder you broke up with her," she said.

Teddy chuckled – a good sign, Victoire noted.

"I should never have been with her in the first place," Teddy sighed. "I was dating her for all the wrong reasons."

"Were you?" Victoire asked, not wanting to seem too much like she was prying into Teddy's business, but also insanely curious as to why that was.

"I guess I was just using her to ignore all the stuff I didn't want to be feeling," Teddy shrugged.

Victoire heavily debated asking her next question and decided to just go ahead. Teddy wouldn't answer if he didn't want to.

"What kind of stuff?" Victoire wondered.

Teddy looked away so that Victoire couldn't see his expression. She could tell he didn't want to share this and that she was crossing into dangerous territory, so she pulled back.

"Sorry, you don't have to answer that," she said, regretting asking the question.

Teddy remained quiet for a while and Victoire let him be, not wanting to say the wrong thing again.

"Hey Vic?" Teddy said eventually.

"Hmm?" Victoire responded, pulling her eyes away from the lake and looking over at Teddy again.

"Thanks," Teddy said.

"What for?" Victoire wondered.

Teddy shrugged. "Sitting with me. Being here," he replied.

"You're welcome," Victoire said simply.

VvVvVvVvVvV

"I feel like my head is going to explode!" Billy exclaimed one night towards the end of May. End-of-year exams were coming up, and for the fifth years, that meant they were going to be sitting their O.W.L.s in a few short weeks. Teddy and Billy were taking a night off of studying with their fellow fifth years and had elected instead to join Victoire and her friends as they studied for their exams as well.

"It can't be that bad," Brianna said.

"Just you wait until your O.W.L.s," Billy warned. "Third year was nothing compared to this."

"Hey!" Brianna said indignantly. "Third year is tough. We have to learn all the theory behind animagus transformation. Do you realize how complicated that is?"

"Why no," Billy said sarcastically. "I have no idea how complicated that is, because obviously I have never been a third year and therefore never learned about animagus transformations."

"Very funny," Brianna rolled her eyes.

"Vanishing spells though," Billy said. "That's some complicated theory."

"Can't be that hard," Brianna said arrogantly. "Don't you just have to make stuff disappear? It's not like you have to turn it into something else."

"Okay, you try it then," Billy challenged her. "Vanish my quill."

"Well I don't know the spell yet," Brianna claimed. "If I knew the spell I could totally do it."

"Here's the spell," Billy said smugly, pushing his notes towards her.

Making a face, Brianna glanced down and identified the spell. Confidently, she raised her wand and pointed it at the quill. " _Evanesco_ ," she said.

When nothing happened, Billy smirked. "That's what I thought," he said.

"Well obviously I can't do it, because I don't know the theory," Brianna defended herself. "But if I _did_ know the theory, it would be easy."

"Feel free to take my notes and read up on the theory," Billy offered.

"No," Brianna said airily. "I'm too busy learning about animagus transformation theory to waste time on something as simple as vanishing theory."

Billy exchanged a look with Teddy.

"Come on Brianna," Victoire interjected. "Obviously vanishing theory is tough. When we get to fifth year I'm sure we'll struggle with it too. It may not be as hard as conjuring theory, but I've heard it's some of the toughest material you need to know for transfiguration O.W.L.s."

"It definitely is," Teddy agreed with Victoire. "I'm not sure I even understand it all."

"I'd offer to help, but…" Victoire trailed off.

"It's fine," Teddy smiled. "I'll save up some questions for when I have dinner with my grandmother this weekend."

"So unfair dude," Billy whined. "You have like, a direct line to all transfiguration knowledge."

"So does everyone else," Teddy pointed out. "My grandmother is perfectly happy to help anyone who comes to her office with questions."

"Yeah, but I bet she gives you tips that the rest of us don't get," Billy said.

Teddy shook his head. "She really doesn't," he assured his friend. "She treats me the same as the rest of her students. At least when it comes to transfiguration."

"Isn't it like, a conflict of interest to have her grading your assignments?" Brianna wondered.

Teddy shrugged. "Well she's definitely not giving me special treatment in the grades department," he said. "She'll fail me if I submit bad work. But if you're that concerned, you can always talk to the Headmistress."

Brianna made a face. "Well I'm not going to do that…" she muttered.

Teddy smirked. "Didn't think so," he said.

"Hey, does anyone remember which spell is the one to turn things into rabbits?" Kara asked, the only one who was still studying.

"That's the lapifors spell," Victoire reminded her.

"Right, of course," Kara nodded, submerging herself back into her work. "Duh."

"It's easy for me to remember because in French, rabbit is _lapin_ , which sounds a bit like lapifors," Victoire added. "Unfortunately, that's just about the only thing I can remember from transfiguration this year."

"You'd better get studying," Teddy tapped her notes with the end of his quill. "Don't want to fail third year and have to repeat it."

Victoire blanched. "They wouldn't – "

"I'm kidding," Teddy assured her. "Calm down, you're not going to fail. You'll do fine. Third year exams are a breeze."

"Easy for you to say," Victoire muttered under her breath, knowing that Teddy could hear her anyway. "You've already done them."

VvVvVvVvVvV

"Truth or dare?" Brianna asked Victoire later in the common room as the three girls took a break from studying.

"Dare," Victoire decided.

"Go and steal Billy's quill right out of his hand," Brianna dared her.

"That's not fair," Victoire disagreed. "He's studying for the O.W.L.s. He needs to focus."

"A dare is a dare," Brianna sang.

"Fine," Victoire grumbled, getting up and walking over to Billy. "Billy, I'm really sorry about this," Victoire apologized before grabbing the quill and hurrying away.

As she was running back to her friends, the quill suddenly started to pull upwards, and as Victoire let go of it, it flew out of her hands and back over to where Teddy and Billy were studying.

"What - ?"

"Summoning Charm," Billy smirked, waving his wand at Victoire tauntingly. "You're going to have to do better than that Victoire."

Victoire rolled her eyes and sat back down with her friends. "Happy?" she asked.

"Well I guess you did do what I asked," Brianna allowed. "Even if Billy messed it up in the end."

"Great," Victoire said. "Alright Kara, truth or dare?"

"Dare," Kara said, feeling adventurous.

"Hmm…" Victoire thought. "I dare you to… sing a song. Out loud. For two whole minutes," Victoire decided.

"But the common room is full of people," Kara complained.

"Exactly," Victoire smiled.

With a sigh, Kara stood and began to sing the official Hogwarts school song.

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts, teach us something please," Kara bellowed.

Everyone in the common room looked up from what they were doing in surprise.

"Whether we be old and bald or young with scabby knees," Kara continued, her face turning red from all the attention. "Our heads could do with filling with some interesting stuff. For now they're bare and full of air, dead flies and bits of fluff."

Kara glanced over at Victoire and Brianna, silently begging for the dare to be over, but they urged her to keep singing.

"So teach us things worth knowing, bring back what we've forgot. Just do your best, we'll do the rest, and learn until our brains all rot," she finished.

The common room erupted into applause and Kara embarrassedly slunk back to her friends, her face red as a lobster. "I can't believe you made me do that," she muttered.

"It was worth it," Victoire smiled, clapping along with the rest of their house.

"Just you wait until we circle back to you," Kara warned. "I'm going to come up with the worst dare you've ever had to do."

"I guess I'm choosing truth tonight," Victoire shrugged.

The girls continued to play their game well into the night and eventually headed upstairs for bed. Exams were coming soon and they needed to stay well rested until then.


	10. June

Chapter 10: June 2014

Monday morning of their first week of exams, the Great Hall was practically silent as the students of Hogwarts frantically revised their notes. All that could be heard was the turning of pages and the clinking of silverware on dishes.

All too soon, students started to stand up and make their way out of the Hall.

"Is it time already?" Teddy blanched, looking up from his Defence notes.

"Looks like it," Victoire noted, reluctantly closing her Charms book and shoving it into her bag. "We'd better get going," she added, swinging around in her seat and standing up.

Her friends stood up, but Teddy and Billy remained seated.

"Aren't you guys coming?" Victoire wondered.

"We're in here, remember?" Teddy said. "O.W.L.s are held in the Great Hall."

"But don't you have to wait outside?" Victoire asked.

Teddy shrugged. "I'm sure they'll kick us out when it's time. I think I'll get in as much last-minute studying before that happens though."

"Alright," Victoire agreed. "Well good luck."

"Thanks," Teddy smiled. "Oh, and you too," he added, almost as an afterthought. Victoire didn't mind. She knew he was way more stressed out than she was. While you had to be pretty bad at a subject to fail an exam from first through fourth year, an average of a third to half of students would fail each O.W.L. For that reason, there was a lot more pressure on Teddy to do well.

"Ready for Charms?" Kara asked brightly as the three girls exited the Great Hall and headed up to the second floor.

"I'm never ready for Charms," Victoire grumbled. Charms was one of her worst subjects, especially as things had gotten more difficult in third year.

"Come on," Kara said. "Charms is fun."

"Easy for you to say," Victoire returned. "You're a natural at Charms. You'll get an O for sure."

VvVvVvVvVvV

"How'd it go?" Victoire asked at lunch when she and her friends met up with Teddy and Billy to eat.

"Miserable," Billy groaned. "And that was only the theory section."

Victoire nodded. While Hogwarts end-of-year exams were typically either practical or theoretical, many O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s were _both_ practical and theoretical – which meant Teddy and Billy had to sit almost twice as many exams as the girls.

"At least the practical section will be over a lot more quickly," Victoire pointed out.

"Sure," Billy agreed. "But that also means we have a lot less room for error."

"How did Charms go?" Teddy wondered, not wanting to talk about the O.W.L.s anymore.

Victoire shrugged. "Terrible as usual," she said. "At least it was a theoretical exam this year. Last year was a disaster."

"You still passed last year though," Teddy pointed out. "It's not like you had to retake the class over the summer."

"I guess," Victoire shrugged.

"Don't worry about it," Teddy assured her. "I'm sure you did fine today."

"So what are you girls studying this afternoon?" Billy asked. Since non-O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. students only had to write one exam per day, they were allowed to use their exam day afternoons to study, while the fifth and seventh years were stuck in the Great Hall.

"We've got History tomorrow," Brianna groaned. "And I still haven't revised anything on the witch hunts."

"That was like, half the year!" Victoire cried. "What were you doing?"

"Revising for Charms!" Brianna replied.

"Well you should really organize your time better," Victoire declared. "You're telling me you spent the past two weeks studying for Charms, and left all our other subjects to be studied the day before?"

"No," Brianna protested. "I just never got around to the witch hunts. They're boring! History is boring!"

Victoire rolled her eyes. "Come on, we should head to the library before the good seats are all taken."

VvVvVvVvVvV

By Friday evening, Teddy and Billy were complete disasters. They had completed Defence, Herbology, Potions and Ancient Runes already, and that morning had written their Astronomy theoretical exam. Since they couldn't do their practical exam until the sun had gone down, the afternoon had been devoted to History of Magic and now despite the looming weekend, the boys were frantically revising for their practical Astronomy O.W.L., which was to take place at midnight in the Astronomy Tower.

"You should take a nap," Victoire suggested when Teddy started nodding off into his bowl of soup.

"Can't," Teddy disagreed. "Have to keep revising."

"Come on, take a break, it's the weekend!" Brianna cried.

"Easy for you to say," Billy grumbled. "Your next exam isn't until Monday. We'll take a break when Astronomy is done."

"No you won't," Victoire disagreed. "As soon as you finish Astronomy you're going to start revising for Transfiguration on Monday."

"Do you blame us?" Teddy asked. "What would my grandmother say if I failed my transfiguration O.W.L.?"

Victoire blanched. Her parents were bad enough, but if she had to answer to her transfiguration Professor about failing transfiguration – that would not be fun.

"Okay fine," Victoire allowed. "At least it's only one more week though. Soon it'll be over."

"Sure," Teddy agreed distractedly as he studied a star chart.

Victoire rolled her eyes, but decided to leave Teddy alone. He had enough to worry about and he needed to focus.

VvVvVvVvVvV

That night, Victoire and her friends were up late playing exploding snap while the fifth years were clustered around the tables in the common room, pouring over their notes in preparation for their Astronomy O.W.L. As midnight neared, the tension in the room grew until Victoire and her friends finally decided to pause their game until the fifth years were gone – the sound of the explosion was loud in the almost silent room, and they were surely disturbing their fellow Gryffindors.

"I can't study anymore," Billy groaned, walking over to where the girls were sitting and plopping down in an armchair exhaustedly. "I feel like I need an energy potion or something to stay awake."

"It's a little late for that," Brianna pointed out.

Billy sighed. "Yeah," he agreed. "Have to be there in ten minutes so I should probably get going…"

Other students were starting to push their chairs back and make their way out the portrait hole. Victoire could vaguely hear the Fat Lady screaming about how it was after curfew before some fifth year boy informed her that they had their O.W.L. exam and were allowed to be out and about.

"I think someone should probably wake Teddy up," Kara said, pointing to the boy who had fallen asleep on top of his notes.

"I'm not doing it," Billy held his hands up in defense. "Teddy hates being woken up."

"I'll do it," Victoire rolled her eyes at Billy's antics. "He can't sleep through his exam after all."

Victoire stood up and walked over to her friend, gently prodding him on the shoulder in an attempt to rouse him.

"Teddy?" she said gently. "Teddy? Wake up!"

When Teddy didn't even move, Victoire tried a more violent approach. She walked around to the back of his chair and pulled it out from underneath him, causing him to fall to the floor in dramatic fashion.

"What was that for?" Teddy cried, jumping up and brandishing his quill angrily.

"You feel asleep," Victoire said, placing her hands on her hips. "I had to wake you up. Your exam is about to start."

"It is?" Teddy cried, his eyes going wide. "But I'm not ready."

"Yes you are," Victoire assured him. "Now go before you're late."

Frantically, Teddy grabbed what he would need, leaving the rest spread out across the table and hurried after the rest of his classmates with Billy, leaving the three girls alone in the common room.

"Back to exploding snap?" Kara asked.

"Let me just clean this up," Victoire muttered, gathering Teddy's notes into a stack and placing them nicely in his bag. She also closed his ink pot and threw that into the bag with his spare quills, zipping the bag closed and then placing it next to the boys' staircase.

"Ready?" Kara demanded, holding the deck in her hand, ready to deal the next hand.

"Yeah," Victoire agreed. "Let's play."

VvVvVvVvVvV

When the fifth years returned from their Astronomy O.W.L., the girls were still in the corner of the room playing exploding snap.

"So?" Victoire asked when Teddy and Billy approached. "Did you stay awake?"

"I did," Teddy smirked, laying down on a nearby couch. "Billy nodded off a few times."

"I did not," Billy disagreed with a yawn. "Okay, maybe I did."

Victoire smirked. "Maybe you two should go to bed," she suggested.

"Can't," Teddy disagreed. "Have to start studying transfiguration."

"First of all," Victoire said. "You're not going to get any studying done on that couch. Second, you have the whole weekend to study. You need sleep."

"I think Victoire's right," Billy decided. "I'm going to sleep." He slowly began to ascend the stairs to the boys' dorm.

"Hey Billy, take that bag with you, would you?" Victoire requested, gesturing to Teddy's bag. "I don't think he's going to have the energy to carry it."

"Whatever," Billy muttered sleepily, grabbing the bag and disappearing up the stairs.

"Teddy?" Victoire asked. "Are you going to go upstairs too?"

When Teddy didn't respond, Victoire circled round to the other side of the couch to find that he had fallen asleep right there in the common room.

Victoire rolled her eyes. "Seriously?" she demanded. "You were that tired?"

"Just leave him there," Brianna said. "We should head to bed now anyway."

"Hang on," Victoire said, casting her eyes around until she found what she was looking for. She grabbed a throw blanket from a nearby armchair and pulled it over Teddy's sleeping figure. "There, now we can go to bed."

VvVvVvVvVvV

By the following Friday, exams were finished and everyone was relieved.

"I never want to brew another potion for the rest of my life," Teddy groaned.

"Really?" Victoire asked. "You wouldn't take N.E.W.T. potions?"

"Not a chance," Teddy shook his head. "Would you?"

"I might," Victoire allowed. "What do you think you'll take?"

"Transfiguration for sure," Teddy said. "My grandmother wouldn't have it any other way. Probably Ancient Runes also, I'm pretty good at that. I guess I'll wait to see what I pass and what I fail though before I decide."

"Do you know what you want to do?" Victoire wondered.

Teddy shrugged. "I'll probably go to work for the Ministry or something," he said. "I'm not really sure. What about you?"

"No clue," Victoire replied. "But I have way more time to figure that out."

"I have plenty of time," Teddy claimed. "I don't have to start applying for jobs until mid-seventh year and I'm still only a fifth year."

"Barely," Victoire pointed out. "You may as well be a sixth year now."

"Slow down," Teddy cried. "I barely finished my O.W.L.s and you're already turning me into a N.E.W.T. student."

"I think you should take Herbology next year," Victoire decided.

"I don't think so," Teddy disagreed.

"Well I'm going to take Herbology when I'm a fifth year," Victoire declared.

"Good for you," Teddy said. He pondered for a second and then added, "I might take Charms."

"Eww, not Charms!" Victoire cried. "Why would you do that?"

Teddy shrugged. "Charms is a good class to take. Opens a lot of doors later on."

"But it's _Charms_ ," Victoire sneered.

Teddy shrugged. "Well you don't have to take it," he said. "I only meant I might."

VvVvVvVvVvV

Before they knew it, it was the Hogwarts end-of-year feast. Ravenclaw had won the House Cup that year, Gryffindor coming in third out of four houses, so the Gryffindor table was relatively subdued at dinner that night.

Just before everyone started to head back to their dorms to pack for the train ride home the following day, Headmistress McGonagall stood up to address the students.

"I would like to make a couple of announcements," she declared, causing those who had started to stand to sit back down.

"First, I want to say congratulations to everyone for making it through another year. Give yourselves all a round of applause," everyone clapped while the Headmistress adjusted her spectacles. "In other news, I would like to announce that after fifteen years of dedicated service to the school, Professor Leftbridge has elected to step down as Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts for personal reasons."

As Professor Leftbridge stood to say a few words of farewell, Billy turned smugly to Victoire and her friends. "Told you so," he smirked.

Brianna rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she muttered. "They never said he was retiring."

"Technicality," Billy brushed it off.

They turned back to face the front of the room when Professor Leftbridge sat down and the Headmistress took the podium again.

"Finally," the Headmistress continued, "I would also like to take this opportunity to announce that after more years than I can believe, I have officially decided to retire."

At this, Victoire gasped. "She's leaving?" she cried. "But she'd been here forever."

"I think that's the point," Brianna pointed out.

"But she's been here since my grandparents' time," Victoire insisted. "Probably even before then. She can't leave!"

"I think it's probably time she did," Kara said. "She must be in her late seventies or early eighties by now. She deserves some peace and quiet."

"What do you think that means for next year?" Victoire wondered. "Who's going to be Headmaster?"

"Maybe it'll be Professor Longbottom," Kara suggested.

"He's too new," Teddy disagreed. "It'll be one of the older Professors."

"Surely not Professor Flitwick," Brianna cried. "He's got to be retiring soon too. Unless he plans on dying here and continuing to teach like Professor Binns."

"What about your grandmother, Teddy?" Victoire wondered. "She'd make a good candidate."

Teddy shrugged. "She hasn't mentioned it. Maybe they haven't even picked someone yet."

"Maybe it'll be someone from outside the school," Kara posited.

"Because that went so well last time," Victoire muttered, referring to the time of Dolores Umbridge back when her Aunts and Uncles went to Hogwarts.

"Well obviously it wouldn't be like that this time," Kara pointed out. "We're not in the middle of a war now."

"I guess we'll find out in September," Teddy shrugged. "No use speculating."

"Yeah," Victoire agreed. "I guess so."

VvVvVvVvVvV

The following morning, after breakfast, the students of Hogwarts climbed aboard the Hogwarts Express, finally heading home for the summer.

"I can't believe we're going to be fourth years next year," Kara said excitedly. "Fourth year is practically upper year."

"Except it isn't," Brianna pointed out. "We still won't get the good seats in the common room and we still won't be invited to the upperclassman parties."

"True," Kara allowed. "But it'll be the last year that we're underclassmen."

"I wish we could just skip fourth year and go straight to fifth," Brianna declared.

"Don't wish that!" Victoire cried. "You saw how stressed out Billy and Teddy were this year. That's going to be us soon. We should enjoy the time we have now before we get saddled with O.W.L. work."

"Speaking of Teddy and Billy, where are they?" Kara wondered.

Victoire shrugged. "Probably with their fifth year friends," she said.

"Oh," Kara said with a frown. "I guess I just got used to them being around recently."

"Yeah," Victoire agreed. "So had I."

The Hogwarts Express lurched, and the train began to slowly pull out of the station.

"Well, goodbye Hogwarts," Victoire sighed, gazing out the window. "See you next year."

"Don't be so dramatic," Brianna rolled her eyes. "We'll be back before you know it."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Hope you liked the story.**

 **Reviews are much appreciated.**

 **For more in the House of the Brave series, please visit my profile page. More stories coming soon.**

 **Next up in Victoire's story: Listen to Your Heart**


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